Searsia marlothii
Click on each image to see a larger version and details of the record (Click here to see images of this plant from Kyffhäuser)
Image 1
Habit
30 Apr 2011
Image 2
Leaves
30 Apr 2011
Image 3
Leaves
30 Apr 2011
Image 4
Leaves
02 Apr 2015
Image 5
Leaves
02 Apr 2015
| Family: | Anacardiaceae |
| Full name: | Searsia marlothii Engl. |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Bitterkaree |
| English common name(s): | Bitter karee |
| Synonym(s): | Rhus marlothii Engl. Rhus upingtoniae Dinter fide Fl. S. Africa 19 (3:1): 61 |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Shrub with cylindrical greyish branches; branchlets, petioles and panicles puberulous or hispidulous. Petiole 0.5-1.2 cm long, slightly canaliculate or marginate above. Leaflets concolorous to subconcolorous, membranous to subcoriaceous, and sparsely hairy on both surfaces, with the margin slightly crenate in the upper part, the median one 2-4.5 x 1-1.8 cm, ovate or oblong, rounded at the apex, cuneate at the base, the lateral ones c. 2/3 the size of the median one and a little asymmetric at the base; midrib raised on both surfaces; lateral nerves slender, sometimes prominulous, venation not visible. Axillary panicles shorter than the leaves, the terminal ones a little longer. Calyx-segments c. 0.5 mm long, ovate, puberulous. Petals c. 1.25 mm long, oblong, obtuse. Drupe cinnamon-coloured, c. 4 mm in diam., compressed-subquadrate, glabrous. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Zambesiaca) Unarmed or spinescent, much-branched shrub up to 2.2 m high. Bark smooth, grey, prominently lenticellate; branches whitish, branchlets puberulous. Leaves trifoliolate, petiolate; petiole semi-terete, shallowly canaliculate, (6-)12(-21) mm long; leaflets sessile, membranous to coriaceous, concolorous, glaucous to pale olive-green, amphistomatous, trichomes few, simple; lamina narrowly elliptic to obovate, base cuneate, apex obtuse to rounded, rarely mucronulate, margin entire to weakly pauciserrate towards apex, slightly thickened; venation kladodromous-brochidodromous, midrib prominent above, midrib and secondaries slightly prominent below, tertiaries inconspicuous; terminal leaflets (17-)34(-60) x (4-)13(-26) mm, lateral leaflets (10-)23(-40) x (4-)10(-22) mm. Panicles lax, axillary and terminal, latter up to 120 mm long, exposed. Flowers normal, styles persistent. Drupe rhombic, discoid, glabrous, shiny, 4.8 x 1.6 to 6.3 x 2.0 mm. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Southern Africa) Shrub; sometimes a small tree. BARK grey-white, relatively smooth; often with distinct lenticels on young branchlets. LEAVES trifoliolate; leaflets sessile, obovate to broadly oblanceolate; both surfaces olive-green, slightly downy; margin entire to slightly crenate near apex, fringed with fine white hairs; apex blunt to sub-acute; base tapering. FLOWERS tiny, star-like; greenish to pale yellow. FRUIT almost round, slightly flattened, cinnamon-brown, shiny. Can be confused with R. tenuinervis, which has far broader, softer, hairier leaves with a more distinctly crenate margin, and is usually found growing in sandy areas. (from Tree Atlas of Namibia) |
| Link(s) |
African Plant Database
JSTOR Plant Science Kew Herbarium Catalogue BGBM Berlin-Dahlem - Virtual Herbarium Züricher Herbarien iNaturalist (Namibia / Alex Dreyer) iNaturalist (Namibia) iNaturalist (southern Africa) Flora of Zimbabwe Fleurs de notre Terre - Galerie Namibie Tree Atlas of Namibia |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
