Gomphocarpus fruticosus flowers

joslud (74)VIP 🔷✅in CCS • 3 days ago

^{Gomphocarpus fruticosus}

Greetings, CCS friends. I continue exploring the garden of my new home, and these flowers caught my attention because of their colors, shape, and the way they appear in clusters.

Photo N° 1


The flowers of Gomphocarpus fruticosus are generally white, pink, and sometimes violet. They appear in hanging clusters of several flowers. The individual flower has a corona consisting of five lobes. This is a very close-up shot with 2X zoom; you can see the unusual shapes of these flowers.

Photo N° 2


The species is Gomphocarpus physocarpus, also known as the "balloon plant" or "silk plant." The outer petals of the flowers are covered with tiny white hairs, giving them a velvety appearance. I discovered the plant's name thanks to Google Lens.

Photo N° 3


In the upper left corner of the photo, you can see the closed buds that, as they mature, open into hanging clusters of many flowers. This type of clustering is called an inflorescence.

Photo N° 4


It is known (thanks to Wikipedia) that the flowers of this plant produce a spherical fruit almost the size of a tennis ball. When they dry, they release seeds with long, silky hairs. I promise I'll show you the fruit and the plant in another post.

This time, I edited it using Microsoft's PHOTOS software. The work involved enhancing colors and lighting. I also cropped the photo for better framing.