Terminalia sericea young pods

These young, healthy looking fruit pods or single-winged samaras of Terminalia sericea were photographed in the Kruger National Park in January. The pink colouring has faint greyness along some of the undulations, probably from the slight hairiness that is normally found on the surface.

In this picture the wrinkles in the centre of the pod where the seed is carried form a slight peak at the point where their irregularly shaped curves join. The wings are wavy as well as having a few corrugations radiating out around the centre, although the wing surfaces depicted here look fairly smooth overall.

Leaf veining and midribs are clear to see, more so on the paler, lower leaf surface. The creamy colour of the leaf midrib is accentuated in the short petioles where the tapering of leaf bases ends (Coates Palgrave, 2002).