Zygophyllum flexuosum fruit

Zygophyllum flexuosum, a curving, turning or winding plant if its specific name, flexuosum is believed, is sometimes commonly called the shooting star twin-leaf.

The twin-leaf name refers to a feature of all Zygophyllum plants: each leaf consists of two paired leaflets. The star reference in the shooting star name reflects the five spreading petals of the flowers. The shooting part is obscure.

Z. flexuosum has succulent to leathery leaves. In picture the unripe fruits are nearly globular. Only one sticky seed grows in each of them.

Another common name in Afrikaans, spekbroodbossie (little bacon bread bush) suggests food eaten by people, which is unlikely. Some Zygophyllum plants are palatable to livestock and game in the South African veld (Manning, 2007; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; Andrew, 2017; iSpot).