Boophone disticha old fruit head

After flowering, the old Boophone disticha fruiting head becomes spherical from equally elongated pedicels on capsules pointing their tips outwards, all neatly spread in all directions. When ripe, the head breaks off at the top of the peduncle. The ball-like structure thus set free rolls wind-propelled while scattering seeds in many places.

Each seed has a unique, unknown likelihood of germination and making it as a plant. If it rains on a seed-filled head, some seeds may germinate already inside the capsule, affecting their chances positively or negatively, depending on what happens next.

The success rate from such natural sowing is low, judged from the numbers of seeds in the capsules and the numbers of plants in nature (Duncan, et al, 2016; Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Pooley, 1998).