Gomphocarpus physocarpus showing balloon fruits

The conspicuous, inflated fruits of Gomphocarpus physocarpus, the balloon cottonbush, are noted by people, the flowers visited avidly by butterflies, wasps, and other insects. Over a long season there are often many flowers and fruits simultaneously on the bushes. 

The flowers appear in pendulous clusters. Preceding them the creamy, globose buds are also attractive, sometimes green tinted. When the buds open, the five petals bend backwards, presenting a central ring of five pouched corona lobes. Inside this ring are the (male) stamens and (female) carpels. The stamens are fused to form a staminal column that encloses the two carpels consisting of stigma, style and ovary. The two style tips are fused, forming the central style head, a five-lobed disc visible right in the centre. 

Flowering happens from late spring to early winter (Pooley, et al, 2025; Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Curtis-Scott, et al, 2020; Pooley, 1998; iNaturalist; https://pza.sanbi.org).