Ximenia americana var. microphylla

The simple leaves of Ximenia americana var. microphylla grow from axils of straight spines or fascicled on small spur-branches.

The leaf-shape is oblong with rounded tips that may be slightly notched. The leaf bases taper or are rounded on hairy petioles from 3 mm to 6 mm long. The leaves fold in along their midribs that are prominent below, the tips curving down. The margins are entire. The blue-green to grey-green leaf surfaces are hairless, sometimes with a waxy coating.

Leaf dimensions are 2,5 cm by 1 cm, smaller than those of var. americana that grows in Namibia and Botswana.

Although the leaves contain prussic acid, they are browsed by eland and some other game (Coates Palgrave, 2002; Schmidt, et al, 2002; Van Wyk and Van Wyk, 1997; iNaturalist).