Diospyros austro-africana var. austro-africana fruit from the back

The back part of the Diospyros austro-africana var. austro-africana fruit is well covered by the five red calyx lobes that curve in around it. The calyx is by now thick, fleshy and faintly hairy, as is the pale fruit it clutches.

When covering the flower buds, the sepals were dull green, smaller and softer textured; less like old hides. The blackened peduncles of the fruits have become woody, still surrounded by bracts at the base (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; iSpot; www.pza.sanbi.org).