''Searsia laevigata'', the dune currant rhus, is a small, bushy, evergreen tree that occurs in rocky fynbos slopes and coastal shrub in South Africa.

Description

It looks very similar to its close relative ''

Searsia glauca ''Searsia glauca'' (or the blue kuni-rhus) is a small, compact tree or bush that is commonly found along the coastline of southern Africa. Although commonest near the coast, it is also found inland among fynbos vegetation. Description The lea ...

'' but has larger leaflets. It was previously classified as ''Rhus laevigata''

Distribution

This species is primarily coastal, occurring in coastal dunes along the western and southern coast of the former Cape Province,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. The low-growing variety ''villosa'', with hairy (villose) leaflets, is exclusively coastal. However, the hairless variety ''Searsia laevigata'' var. ''laevigata'', while occurring along the coast, also extends inland as far as the

Little Karoo The Karoo ( ; from the Afrikaans borrowing of the South Khoekhoe !Orakobab or Khoemana word ''ǃ’Aukarob'' "Hardveld") is a semi- desert natural region of South Africa. No exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo is available, so its ...

in the north, and

Bredasdorp Bredasdorp is a town in the Southern Overberg region of the Western Cape, South Africa, and the main economic and service hub of that region. It lies on the northern edge of the Agulhas Plain, about south-east of Cape Town and north of Cape A ...

in the west.Coates Palgrave, M. (2002) ''Trees of southern Africa''. Struik, Cape Town.

Notes

References

* Van Wyk: ''Field Guide to Trees of Southern Africa'', Struik, 1997. laevigata Endemic flora of the Cape Provinces Fynbos Trees of South Africa {{Anacardiaceae-stub