Cysticapnos vesicaria multicoloured fruit

Young Cysticapnos vesicaria or Cape clapper fruits, drooping on their stalks, are variably coloured in purple, pink, greenish white or shades of beige and yellow. The nearly spherical fruit, a membranous capsule, deviates from ovoid shape in its conical tip where a small style remnant is often present.

The fruit splits from its tip when ripe, releasing about ten to fifty seeds. The lentil-shaped seeds are small, black and shiny.

The generic name, Cysticapnos, is derived from the Greek words cystis meaning bladder or pouch and capnos meaning smoke, referring to the greyish bladder-like capsules. The specific name, vesicaria, is somewhat tautological, derived from the Latin words vesica meaning the bladder and -arius indicating connection or possession (Leistner, (Ed.), 2000; iNaturalist; Andrew, 2017).