Rothmannia capensis fruit

The green fruit of Rothmannia capensis is initially hard, becoming softer as it ripens and turns brown or black. Its surface is leathery with a few, faint, longitudinal grooves resembling the sections of an orange. The last bit of the style remains here in the brown ring at the tip. The fruit is about spherical, 7 cm in diameter.

Many smooth seeds are embedded in the solid mass of the pulpy fruit tissue.

These fruits are eaten by baboons and monkeys (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; Pooley, 1993).