Searsia
Credits
This is a placeholder entry.
Recommended citation
'Searsia' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Family
- Anacardiaceae
Synonyms
- Rhus L., in part
Editorial Note
Searsia and the closely related Toxicodendron are segregate genera formerly included in Rhus. Searsia lancea was treated by Bean under the name Rhus lancea. A full account of the genus will be provided when funds are available. If you would like to sponsor the work, please write to editor@treesandshrubsonline.org
Searsia consists of more than one hundred species from Africa and East Asia. Several of the South African species are in cultivation and are commercially available in the United Kingdom, though it is not known how well established they are. All are trifoliolate; Searsia lancea is one of the largest. Also cultivated are Searsia glauca (Thunb.) Moffett, a shrub up to 8 m, whose leaves start out a very glossy green, although the ‘varnish’ causing this dries out to a greyish powdery layer; S. incisa (L.f.) F.A.Barkley, which is smaller, with pinnatifid leaflets that are white-woolly below; S. krebsiana (C.Presl ex Engl.) Moffett, a shrub from the Drakensberg with unexceptional leaves; S. leptodictya (Diels) T.S.Yi, A.J.Mill. & J.Wen, which can reach 8 m, with elongated leaflets that have toothed margins (largely coming from the Highveld, it can withstand considerable frost: Coates Palgrave 1990); and S. magalismontana (Sond.) Moffett, with broad leaflets (another shrub from the old Transvaal). All produce small yellowish green flowers in (usually) short panicles.
All of these species should be given sunny, well-drained sites in mild areas if they are to have much chance of surviving.