Searsia undulata
| Family: | Anacardiaceae |
| Full name: | Searsia undulata Jacq. |
| Location: | Kyffhäuser (2416AD + 2416CB) |
| ID status: | Fairly certain |
| Afrikaans common name(s): | Koeniebos, Taaibos, Kunibos, Gharrabos, Ghnarrabos, Namakwakoeniebos |
| English common name(s): | Kuni bush, Namaqua kuni-bush |
| Synonym(s): | Rhus undulata Jacq. Rhus celastroides Sond. fide Fl. S. Africa 19 (3:1): 87 Rhus excisa Thunb. fide Fl. S. Africa 19 (3:1): 87 Rhus undulata Jacq. forma contracta (Schönland) R.Fern. Rhus undulata Jacq. forma contracta Schönland Rhus undulata Jacq. forma excisa (Thunb.) R.Fern. Rhus undulata Jacq. forma excisa (Thunb.) Schönland Rhus undulata Jacq. forma undulata Schönland Rhus undulata Jacq. var. celastroides (Sond.) Schönland - p.p. |
| Status: | Native |
| Description: | Aromatic, much-branched, multistemmed, evergreen shrub up to 3 m high. Bark grey-brown, smooth to granular; branches dark brown, divaricate, branchlets somewhat squarrose, ribbed, often ending in stiff spurs. Leaves trifoliolate, petiolate, odoriferous; petiole semiterete, canaliculate above, often semi-alate, (4-)12(-24) mm long; leaflets sessile, membranous, concolorous, olive-green, glutinous to laccate, amphistomatous; lamina oblanceolate to widely obovate, somewhat repand in upper half; base attenuate, apex retuse, rounded, obtuse, subacute or acute, mucronulate, sometimes plicate; margin entire to irregularly crenate in upper half and apex; venation kladodromous to semicraspedodromous, midrib prominent above and below, secondary veins slightly prominent above, impressed below; terminal leaflets (6-)22(-53) x (1-)9(-18) mm, lateral leaflets (5-)15(-38) x (l-)6(-15) mm. Panicles up to 50 mm long, lax, much branched, minutely flowered, axillary and terminal, latter exposed. Flowers normal. Drupe oblate, ellipsoid, glabrous, shiny, dull yellow to cream, 5.5 x 3.4 to 6.4 x 4.5 mm. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora of Southern Africa) Glabrous; branchlets angulate; leaves longish-stalked; leaflets sessile, obovate, tapering to the base, acute, obtuse, or emarginate, mucronulate, with undulate-denticulate margins, or incised, 5–7 dentate, glossy above, parallel-veined on both surfaces; panicles axillary and terminal, equalling the leaves or longer; drupe globose, glabrous. Very similar to R. lucida, of which it has the habit, but the leaves are longer-stalked, the leaflets thinner, smaller and undulate, mostly dentate, and the panicles longer. From the preceding it is distinguished by the glabrous, resinous, shining, long-stalked leaves. Branchlets patent. Petiole 0.5–1 inch long, winged. Leaflets membranaceous, with pellucid veins, wedge-shaped, obtuse, or sub-acuminate, 1–1.75 inches long, 6–10 lines wide, the lateral ones smaller and more oval. Male panicle 3–4 inches long, lower branches 1.5–2 uncial; pedicels capillary; female or hermaphrodite panicles shorter and less compound. Drupe shining, sub-compressed, the size of a small pea. (from JSTOR Global Plants website / Flora Capensis) Dense, evergreen, many-stemmed shrub, up to 3.5 m high; known mainly from mountainous areas in southern and south-central Namibia. BARK grey-brown; young branchiets covered in waxy scales, occasionally spiny, especially on older branches. LEAVES trifoliolate, spirally arranged, with a shiny, lacquered appearance; 4 terminal leaflet obovate, 10-30 x 6-10 mm, widest about one-third of the length from tip, sticky; lateral leaflets slightly smaller; both surfaces dark green, hairless; margin undulate, entire to crenate; apex usually tapering to a blunt tip; base narrowly tapering; petiole m long, green, hairless. INFLORESCENCE an axillary or terminal spray, up to 30 mm long. FLOWERS small, green to yellow; August to March. FRUIT a sub-spherical, somewhat flattened drupe, up to 5 mm in diameter; shiny, green to creamy yellow, but occasionally reddish when ripe. LEAVES and young growth are browsed by small stock. It is used medicinally by Nama people. (from Trees and shrubs of Namibia, 2nd Ed., Mannheimer and Curtis) Evergreen, dense shrub. BARK grey-brown; young branchlets covered in waxy scales; occasionally spiny, especially older branches. LEAVES with a shiny, lacquered appearance; leaflets obovate, small, glandular, sticky; both surfaces dark green. FLOWERS small, star-like, greenish-yellow. FRUIT shiny, green to creamy yellow, but occasionally reddish when ripe. (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 |
| Photographer: | AA Dreyer |
| Date of photograph: | 20 Dec 2006 |
| Camera make: | Canon |
| Camera model: | PowerShot A700 |
| Lens aperture: | f/4.0 |
| Shutter speed: | 1/500 s |
| ISO speed: | - |
| Content last updated: | 18 Apr 2024 |
