Curio radicans fluffy fruit pappuses

Hairy pappuses of Curio radicans fruit are waiting for the right moment to depart from the plant, launched in a quest for new life.

The pointed leaf bodies are reddish, resting although erect after the labours involved in flowering and fruiting now done for the year. The stems on the ground that connect them meander, resembling rivulets. They are whitish and cylindrical, functioning more like pipelines than rivulets, as juices are conveyed in both directions inside.

Flowering happens through the colder part of the year. Green leaf bodies will probably only be seen here again by next autumn after rain (Smith, et al, 2017; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; iNaturalist).