About

Nymania capensis is a species of plant known in English as "Chinese lantern" because of the shape of its bright, colourful fruit, and in Afrikaans as "klapper" (meaning "firecracker" because children sometimes pop the capsules for fun). It is the only species in the genus Nymania. It is a spare, scrubby, woody shrub or small tree, typically ) 0.5–3 m tall. It is endemic to South Africa and some closely bordering territories, especially inland regions in central, northern and eastern parts. It grows mainly in Karooid regions, among the scrub of gorges, but also in open veld and river banks in the Great and Little Karoo, Namaqualand and Kalahari. The leaves are alternate and fascicled. They are simple and more or less linear. The flowers are solitary, born on pedicels in axils.