Searsia tomentosa

Searsia tomentosa, the bicoloured currant or korentetaaibos in Afrikaans, is an attractive shrub or small tree reaching 3 m to 5 m in height (SA Tree List No. 394).

The branchlets are reddish brown and ridged, scattered lenticels upon the surfaces. On bigger branches the bark is grey-brown and smooth.

The species distribution is widespread from the Cape Peninsula in a coastal belt through the Western and Eastern Cape as well as KwaZulu-Natal, continuing inland across the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Lowveld and in several neighbouring countries.

The habitat is scrub forest margins, often in rocky places. The species is not considered to be threatened in its habitat early in the twenty first century (Coates Palgrave, 2002; http://redlist.sanbi.org).