Searsia lancea fruits

The karee is a commonly planted park, pavement and garden tree in South Africa and elsewhere. It is hardy, performing well in a variety of soil types and climatic conditions. The wood of Searsia lancea is hard and attractively reddish brown, but the stems are often too twisted to yield big enough pieces for major carpentry projects.

The tree is somewhat similar to S. pendulina, although the latter has more thinly textured leaflets and is more associated with riverine habitat. The fruits of the karee are sometimes pounded and allowed to ferment to make a beer (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997).