Searsia dentata

Searsia dentata, the nana-berry, is a shrub of 2 m, occasionally becoming a tree of 5 m in height. It is recorded in the SA Tree List as No. 381.

The leaves are trifoliolate in structure, obovate in shape, toothed along the upper halves with tapering apices and bases. The upper leaflet is twice the size of the lateral two. The green leaf colour is replaced by yellow or orange in autumn.

The flowers are small, yellow, growing in terminal and axillary heads. The fruits are red, spherical, growing in dense clusters in summer.

The species distribution is in the east of the country from the southern Cape through KwaZulu-Natal to Limpopo.

The tree grows in bushveld or open woodland, near rivers, at forest margins and on rocky slopes, often in sheltered spots. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).