Searsia pterota

Searsia pterota is commonly known as the winged currant, in Afrikaans the pendoringtaaibos (spike thorn Searsia, or spike thorn sticky bush) and previously scientifically Rhus longispina according to some authors. It is a tough and spiny shrub reaching about 2 m in height, occasionally a small tree of 4 m tall.

Older bark is grey and granular, often covered in lichen, while young stems are green to red and smooth but for the scattered glands. The dwarf spur-branchlets are spine-tipped.

The species distribution is coastal and in the adjacent interior of the Western Cape from around Saldanha to the Eastern Cape as far as East London. The photo was taken in the Kouga.

The habitat is dry coastal bush or thicket, sometimes in shale soil. The habitat population is deemed of least concern early in the twenty first century (Euston-Brown and Kruger, 2023; Venter, 2012; Coates Palgrave, 2002; Bond and Goldblatt, 1984; iNaturalist; http://redlist.sanbi.org).