Diospyros whyteana bearing brown bladdernuts

In this January photo taken in the Magaliesberg, the inflated, loose, “bladder” fruit coverings on the Diospyros whyteana bush have already turned a reddish brown among the glossy green leaves. The bladders become 3 cm long.

The real berry-like fruits, oval-shaped and hidden inside their tent-like abodes, become 1,5 cm long. The seeds inside the fruit, two to four of them, become 8 mm long. They are smooth and pale brown in colour (Coates Palgrave, 2002).