Searsia engleri
(Britten) Moffatt
Velvet karee
AnacardiaceaeFruit
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(c) Antoinette Eyssell Knox, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
(c) Antoinette Eyssell Knox, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), uploaded by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Troos van der Merwe
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC), uploaded by Troos van der Merwe
iNaturalist · cc-by-nc
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Troos van der Merwe, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruits are eaten raw after being rubbed between the hands to remove the dry outer skin.
Where to Find It
It is a subtropical plant. It can grow in arid places.
Africa, South Africa, Southern Africa,
Countries: Angola, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Benin, Botswana, Congo (DRC), Central African Republic, Congo (Republic), Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Djibouti, Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Comoros, Liberia, Lesotho, Libya, Morocco, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Somalia, South Sudan, Sao Tome & Principe, Eswatini, Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe
How to Identify
A spiny shrub. It has many branches. The leaves have leaflets that do not have stalks. They are dull green above and have white hairs underneath. The fruit are brown and flattened.
Names & Synonyms
Fluweelkaree, Makutla, Mbulula, Moholethi, Mothathaathaa
Rhus engleri BrittenRhus incana Engl.
References (6)
- Fox, F. W. & Young, M. E. N., 1982, Food from the Veld. Delta Books. p 77 (As Rhus engleri)
- Moffett, R. O., 2007, Name changes in the Old World Rhus and recognition of Searsia (Anacardiaceae). Bothalia 37,2: 165-175 (2007)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 28th March 2011] (As Rhus engleri)
- Ruiters-Welcome, A. K., 2019, Food plants of southern Africa. Ph.D. thesis. Univ. of Johannesburg p 15
- Welcome, A. K. & Van Wyk, B.-E., 2019, An inventory and analysis of the food plants of southern Africa. South African Journal of Botany 122 (2019) 136–179
- World Checklist of Useful Plant Species 2020. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
