Searsia gueinzii
(Sond.) F. A. Barkley
Thorny taaibos, Spiny rhus
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(c) Adriaan Grobler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
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(c) Adriaan Grobler, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
Description
A shrub or small tree. It can be up to 6 m tall. It may have many stems and the bark is cracked. The branches are slender and often arch over. It may or may not have spines. The spines can vary. The leaves also vary. They usually have 3 leaflets which are oval. The central leaflet is long. It can be 7 cm long with a bluntly pointed tip. The edges of the leaves normally have teeth. The leaves are paler underneath. The midrib can normally be easily seen on both surfaces. The leaf stalks are usually red and slender. The flowers are small and yellow. The flowers are in loose heads both at the ends of branches and in the axils of leaves. The fruit are round but often slightly lopsided. They are brown. The fruit are edible.
Edible Uses
The fruits are eaten fresh.
Traditional Uses
The fruit are eaten.
This uses section is brief — help expand it
Distribution
A tropical plant. It grows in scrub forest and on stony ground. In Brisbane Botanical Gardens.
Where It Grows
Africa, Australia, Botswana, East Africa, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe,
Notes
There are about 200 Rhus species.
Synonyms
Also Known As
InHlangushane, Motshotlho, Spiny rhus, Thorny karee
References (11)
- Cunningham, 1985, (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Grivetti, 1976, 1979, (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Grivetti, L. E., 1980, Agricultural development: present and potential role of edible wild plants. Part 2: Sub-Saharan Africa, Report to the Department of State Agency for International Development. p 80 (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Moffett, R. O., 2007, Name changes in the Old World Rhus and recognition of Searsia (Anacardiaceae). Bothalia 37,2: 165-175 (2007)
- Palgrave, K.C., 1996, Trees of Southern Africa. Struik Publishers. p 479 (As Rhus gueinzii)
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- Palmer, E and Pitman, N., 1972, Trees of Southern Africa. Vol. 2. A.A. Balkema, Cape Town p 1251 (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Peters, C. R., O'Brien, E. M., and Drummond, R.B., 1992, Edible Wild plants of Sub-saharan Africa. Kew. p 51 (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 15
- Schmidt, E., Lotter, M., & McCleland, W., 2007, Trees and shrubs of Mpumalanga and Kruger National Park. Jacana Media p 314 (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Swaziland's Flora Database http://www.sntc.org.sz/flora (As Rhus gueinzii)
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
