Commiphora serrata Engl.

Spiny tree 5–20 m. tall; bark smooth, green; young branches ± 2 mm. in diameter, glabrous or sparsely hispid with hairs ± 1 mm. long.. Leaves sparsely hispidulous or almost glabrous but always with some stiff long hairs on the veins, up to 24 cm. long including a petiole up to 3 cm. and a terminal leaflet up to 3 cm. on a petiolule up to 7 mm. long, 9–17(?–21)-foliolate; lateral leaflets oblong or lanceolate, shortly acuminate, asymmetrically rounded at the base on petiolules 0.5–1.0 mm. long, finely serrate throughout their length with 6–7 main lateral veins, rather prominent above and beneath on each side, up to 55 mm. long × 12 mm. wide; terminal leaflet elliptic or narrowly obovate, pointed or attenuate basally.. Flowers red, appearing with or before the young leaves in almost glabrous or hispid pedunculate dichasial cymes grouped together at the tips of branchlets.. Male inflorescences 10–20-flowered; peduncles up to 7 cm.; pedicels up to 7 mm.; bracts caducous, narrowly elliptic-lanceolate, up to 4 mm.; calyx and receptacle glabrous or hispid, the latter cup-shaped, 1.5 mm. deep, calyx-tube 1.5 mm., lobes lanceolate, 2 mm. long; petals glabrous, ± 5.5 mm. long, tapering to a flexuous pointed tip; filaments 3.5 and 2.5 mm., anthers 0.8 and 0.5 mm. long.. Female inflorescence 1–5-flowered, the peduncles 0.5–3 cm. long.. Fruit glabrous, dotted with lenticels, globose or ellipsoid, 20–23 × 20 × (8–9+9–10) mm.; pericarp succulent, up to 7 mm. thick, bivalved; pseudaril 1.5 mm. thick, forming a shallowly lobed cup 12 mm. across, 6–8 mm. deep; stone smooth, ± 12 × 8.5 × (2+5) mm.. Fig. 12/8–10, p. 69.

Dry lowland forest, woodland and thickets. Thickets, also coastal; scrub; dry forest; especially among rocks; coastal woodland at elevations up to 700 metres.

Can be grown by seedlings.