English: Chinese lantern
Afrikaans: Klapper, meaning "firecracker.
Genus: 1 species.
Use: ornamental.
BotanySpare, scrubby, woody shrub or small tree; 0.5 to 3 m tall.
Region: South Africa.
Habitat: Karooid regions; scrub of gorges, in open veld, river banks
Leaves: alternate; fascicled; simple; linear.
Flowers: solitary, borne on pedicels in axils; corolla and calyx have four lobes each; eight stamens inserted at the base of the disc, filaments connate at their base; ovary is superior, sessile, four lobes, four locules, each containing two collateral ascending ovules; stigma simple, style extends further than the stamens.
Fruit: bright, colourful; inflated, membranous capsule; 3 to 5 cm across; each locule forming a distinct lobe.
Seeds: hard, rounded, when mature; 2 to 4 mm in diameter; when ripe sometimes blown over the veld, bearing their seeds in the manner of miniature tumbleweeds.
TaxonomyNymania capensis has variously been assigned to the families
Sapindaceae, Aitoniaceae, and
Meliaceae.