Cysticapnos vesicaria

[= Cysticapnos africana, Cysticapnos parviflora]

Klappertjie, Klappertjies [Afrikaans]

Life > eukaryotes > Archaeoplastida > Chloroplastida > Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants) > Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants) > Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering plants) > Eudicotyledons > Order: Ranunculales > Family: Papaveraceae > Fumarioideae > Genus: Cysticapnos

Cysticapnos vesicaria flower and bipinnate leaf, in Strandveld at West Coast Fossil Park, Western Cape, South Africa. [image H Robertson, Iziko ©]
Cysticapnos vesicaria (2 images above), among bush and rocks on rocky, dolorite koppie, Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape, South Africa. [image H Robertson, Iziko ©]
The characteristic inflated, bladder-like fruit of Cysticapnos vesicaria, Nieuwoudtville, Northern Cape, South Africa. [image H Robertson, Iziko ©]	Fruit, flower and leaves of Cysticapnos vesicaria, West Coast Fossil Park, Western Cape, South Africa. [image H Robertson, Iziko ©]

Description

Straggling, twining, annual climber, growing among other vegetation to a height of 1 m. Leaves are divided (bipinnate) with some terminal leaflets forming tendrils. The two-lipped, pale-pink flowers are 10-12 mm long and occur in small clusters. The fruit is distinctively inflated, bladder-like, 20-30 mm long.

Distribution and habitat

Namibia, South Africa (Northern Cape, Western Cape), where it occurs in sandy soils.

Phenology

Flowers August to October.