''Euclea racemosa'' (the sea guarrie or dune guarrie) is a small to medium-sized evergreen tree that is indigenous to the Indian Ocean coast of Africa from Egypt to South Africa, as well as in

Comoros The Comoros,, ' officially the Union of the Comoros,; ar, الاتحاد القمري ' is an independent country made up of three islands in southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. It ...

, Oman and Yemen. ''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 a species, meaning that it has distinct individual organisms (unisexual) that produce male or female gametes, either directly (in animals) or indirectly (in seed plants). Dioecious reproductio ...

tree (male and female flowers on separate trees), it produces small white flowers, which are followed by red, purple and black fruits that attract birds.
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 # ''Euclea racemosa'' subsp. ''daphnoides'' (Hiern) F.White - Cape Province,

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

Eswatini Eswatini ( ; ss, eSwatini ), officially the Kingdom of Eswatini and formerly named Swaziland ( ; officially renamed in 2018), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. It is bordered by Mozambique to its northeast and South Africa to its no ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

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

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

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

, Mozambique,

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