Balloon Cotton Bush Fruit, Asclepias physocarpa aka Gomphocarpus physocarpus Apocynaceae, Southeast Africa

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The Balloon Cotton Bush Fruit, Asclepias physocarpa aka Gomphocarpus physocarpus is a species of milkweed native to Southeast Africa, and has been widely naturalized. Its fruit are in the shape of an inflated light sphere (hollow follicle); they contain many small brown seeds which are wind scattered thanks to their silky pappus. Also known as balloonplant, hairy balls or swan plant. The plant is a food source for the caterpillars of Danaus butterflies. It is also popular in traditional medicine to cure various ailments.

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Size: 3408px × 5128px
Location: Southeast Africa
Photo credit: © Florapix / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: africa, apocynaceae, asclepias, balloon, balloonplant, balls, botanical, botany, bush, cotton, flora, florapix, follicle, fruit, gomphocarpus, green, hairy, herb, hollow, inflated, kenya, light, milkweed, mozambique, natural, nature, pappus, perennial, physocarpa, physocarpus, plant, seed, south, southeast, sphere, spikey, spines, spiney, swan, swaziland, tanzania, undershrub