''Euclea racemosa'' (the sea guarrie or dune guarrie) is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree that is indigenous to the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

from

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, as well as in

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

. ''Euclea racemosa'' has leathery foliage that can be exceptionally even and dense - making it an ideal plant for hedges. A

dioecious Dioecy ( ; ; adj. dioecious, ) is a characteristic of certain species that have distinct unisexual individuals, each producing either male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproduction is ...

tree (male and female flowers on separate trees), it produces small white

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, which are followed by red, purple and black

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

s that attract

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class (biology), class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the Oviparity, laying of Eggshell, hard-shelled eggs, a high Metabolism, metabolic rate, a fou ...

s.
The berries are used locally to make "Guarrie vinegar". The name guarrie appears to derive from the local Khoe language, in which it is spelled gwarri.

Pictures

File:Euclea racemosa - Sea Guarrie Tree - flowers 6.JPG, Detail of inflorescence. File:Euclea racemosa - Sea Guarrie Tree - berries 7.JPG, The characteristic multi-coloured berries of the Sea Guarrie tree. File:Euclea racemosa - Sea Guarrie Tree - berries 2.JPG, Detail of berries. File:Euclea racemosa - Dune Guarrie hedge - Cape Town 3.JPG, ''Euclea racemosa'' used for roadside hedging. File:Euclea racemosa - Sea Guarrie hedge - Cape Town 2.JPG, Rough ''Euclea racemosa'' hedging. Cape Town.

Classification

;subspecies # ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''bernardii'' F.White -

Cape Province The Province of the Cape of Good Hope (), commonly referred to as the Cape Province () and colloquially as The Cape (), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Co ...

# ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''daphnoides'' (Hiern) F.White -

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

Eswatini Eswatini, formally the Kingdom of Eswatini, also known by its former official names Swaziland and the Kingdom of Swaziland, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by South Africa on all sides except the northeast, where i ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

Limpopo Limpopo () is the northernmost Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a ...

# ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''macrophylla'' (E.Mey. ex A.DC.) F.White -

# ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''racemosa'' -

# ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''schimperi'' (A.DC.) F.White - most of species range # ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''sinuata'' F.White -

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

# ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''zuluensis'' F.White -

References

racemosa Trees of Africa Flora of the Comoros Flora of Oman Flora of Yemen Plants described in 1774 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Dioecious plants {{Ebenaceae-stub