Rhus lancea, or Black Karee as it is commonly known (and now called “Searsia lancea”), has the habit of growing in weird shapes if not pruned, the branches sometimes bending in upon itself, giving it an untidy look, but which the birds love! They criss-cross this highway of branches at an amazing speed in search of insects and feed on the clusters of small, yellow or red, berry-like fruits in Autumn.
The fruit in it's green form, highly prized by birds and primates
The flowering season is between June and September, and fruit begins to form from September to January. The leaves hang down, which are glossy and dark green. The flowers
are yellow and fruit is small, round and slightly flattened. Several birds eat the fruit but the Bulbuls (Pycnonotus barbatus) were the most prolific eaters in my garden, and
guinea fowl and pheasants eat the fruit waste on the ground.
Black Karee seeds ready to drop and populate the garden with hundreds of seedlings!
Be careful where you plant this tree. Although it doesn’t have an invasive root system and can be planted near buildings or walk-ways, it grows to a height of 20 to 30 ft, with a width of 20 to 30 ft, and is one of the messiest trees I have ever come across! It will clog up your pool filter in no time and we spend hours every week raking up the fallen leaves and berries. I don't think the leaves have much composting nutritional value as they seem to take ages to decompose.
A ten-year old Black Karee in my previous garden in Tarlton, Gauteng
A stray seedling sprung up next to the garden path...
Can be used as fence posts because the wood is resistant to termites. Indigenous evergreen, it is wide-spread in South Africa and is only missing from Kwazulu Natal. It grows to 5-10 meters and makes a lovely evergreen shade tree, hedge, wind break and roadside tree. It is in the top 5 frost and drought-hardy trees.
The leaves of the Black Karee (Searsia lancea) glistening brightly after a spring shower...
Look at the trees, look at the birds, look at the clouds, look at the stars… and if you have eyes you will be able to see that the whole existence is joyful. Everything is simply happy. Trees are happy for no reason; they are not going to become prime ministers or presidents and they are not going to become rich and they will never have any bank balance.
~ Osho
