The stalks of the pendulous, inflated Cysticapnos vesicaria subsp. vesicaria fruit, Cape clappers or little rattles, are fairly long. When young, the thin-walled, balloon-like fruit may be yellow-green to pinkish, the veining purple. The stems are longitudinally ridged.

The “other” pinnate leaves in picture belong to the Vachellia karroo host that supports the Cysticapnos stems. The leaf contrast illustrates the difference between incised and pinnate leaves (Vlok and Schutte-Vlok, 2015; Eliovson, 1990; iNaturalist).