Searsia natalensis (bernh. ex Krauss) F.a.barkley

Species

Angiosperms > Sapindales > Anacardiaceae > Searsia

Characteristics

Unarmed, evergreen semiscandent shrub or slender tortuous tree up to 5 m high. Bark granular, grey-brown, lenticellate; branchlets glabrous. Leaves trifoliolate, petiolate; petiole semiterete, canaliculate above, somewhat margined, (8-)17(-31) mm long; leaflets subcoriaceous, slightly discolorous, dark green above, light green below, hypostomatous, glabrous; lamina elliptical, weakly undulate, base cuneate, apex emarginate, refuse or obtuse; margin crenulate in upper 3 of lamina, slightly thickened; venation kladodromous to semicraspedodromous, midrib prominent above and below, secondary veins slightly prominent above, impressed below; terminal leaflets (19-)47(-77) x (9-)19(-30) mm, lateral leaflets (14-)35(-60) x (6-)16(-26) mm. Panicles lax, fairly sparsely branched, axillary and terminal, latter up to 70 mm long, exposed. Flowers normal. Drupe circular to oblate, globoid, glabrous, shiny, chestnut to cinnamon-brown, 5.5 x 5.0-7.5 x 6.8 mm; stone with slight lateral processes. Flowering recorded in October, November, January, March and May.
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Quite glabrous; leaves petiolate; leaflets sessile, oval, obtuse, emarginate, crenate-ser-rate, cuneate at base, penninerved, paler beneath; racemes axillary, simple, or sub-paniculate, shorter than the leaves; drupe sub-globose, glabrous. Branches terete, greyish, punctate, scabrous. Leaves 1.5-2 inches long, 9-12 lines wide. Petioles terete, furrowed above, 3/4-1 inch. Racemes 0.5-1,5 uncial, simple or at the top paniculated; pedicels capillary, 1-1,5 lines long. Flowers minute, white. Calyx and petals obtuse. Drupe yellowish-brown, of the size of a small pea.
A shrub. It grows to 6 m tall. The branches are rough and grey. The leaves have 3 leaflets. The leaves are leathery. They are a darker green on the upper surface than the lower surface. The leaflets are oblong and narrowing to the base. The tip is notched or bluntly pointed. The central leaflet is up to 9 cm long and 4 cm wide. Young leaves are a red colour. The flowers are small and greenish-white. They occur in branched bunches in the axils of leaves. The fruit are small, round or somewhat flattened and yellow-brown when ripe. They are edible.
Tree or shrub, 1-5 m high; evergreen, unarmed, semi-scandent; bark grey-brown, granular, lenticellate, branchlets glabrous. Leaves: petioles somewhat margined, trifoliolate; leaflets sessile, subcoriaceous, glabrous, dark green above, light green below, elliptical, weakly undulate, margins crenulate in upper 2/3, slightly thickened. Flowers small, greenish yellow. Inflorescence axillary and terminal panicles, ± 70 mm long, lax, sparsely branched, exposed. Fruit a drupe, circular to oblate, globoid, glabrous, shiny, chestnut-to cinnamon-brown.
Life form perennial
Growth form
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention evergreen
Sexuality -
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 4.0
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) -
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months -
Fruit color
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in the lowlands and the highlands. It grows on coastal sand dunes, in dune forest and in open woodland. In East Africa it grows from sea level to 3,000 m altitude. It is mostly between 1,600-2,400 m altitude. It can grow in arid places.
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Deciduous and evergreen savannah bushland and woodland, riverine vegetation, forest edges, often on well-drained slopes, at elevations from sea level to 3,000 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture 5-8
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The green and the ripe fruit are eaten fresh. It is squeezed between the hands before eating. The roots are used in soup. The tender shoots and leaves are chewed. The bark is used to make tea.
Uses animal food charcoal environmental use food fuel gene source material medicinal poison social use tea wood
Edible barks fruits leaves roots seeds shoots
Therapeutic use -
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown by seeds.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Fruit

Searsia natalensis fruit picture by Yves Clara (cc-by-sa)

Distribution

Searsia natalensis world distribution map, present in Angola, Benin, Central African Republic, Cameroon, Comoros, Guinea, Sudan, Somalia, South Sudan, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe

Conservation status

Searsia natalensis threat status: Least Concern

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:71180-1
WFO ID wfo-0000434889
COL ID 4W74X
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID -
Wikipedia (EN)
Wikipedia (FR)

Synonyms

Rhus natalensis Toxicodendron natalense Rhus macrocarpa Cissus natalensis Rhus collina Toxicodendron macrocarpum Rhus incana var. dahomensis Searsia natalensis