Heteromorpha arborescens var. abyssinica compound umbels

Several Heteromorpha arborescens var. abyssinica stem-tip branchlets flaunt compound umbels of small fruit ripening or ripened and departed if not failed.

Every fruit is positioned on its own pedicel and each little umbel on its own peduncle in the overall structure of the inflorescence. This means that diverse contingencies of visitation and disasters may befall individual fruit or seed, while others may uneventfully reach ripening, dispersal and even germination somewhere in the neighbourhood or further afield.

Survival is served by producing numerous flowers, which will inevitably yield fewer seeds and much later still fewer trees (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Pooley, 1993).