Searsia angustifolia stem-tip

In the absence of new leaf growth, the Searsia angustifolia stem-tip holds its leaflets ready for the occasional sunbeam that makes it through the upper foliage. The petiolules of the leaflets are lighter coloured than the petioles of the trifoliolate leaves. The leaf petioles are in turn lighter coloured than the upper branchlets.

This is a peaceful forest scene. The graceful, lengthwise leaflet curvature is similar throughout but nowhere quite identical, even as the slight sloping down in the blades to the midribs varies almost imperceptibly. The sharpest parts in view are the leaflet tips, demurely arched down. All the subdued excitement is here reserved for the cluster of buds developing on the branchlet (Coates Palgrave, 2002; iNaturalist).