''Searsia angustifolia'', the willow karee or smalblaar, is a small, bushy, evergreen tree which is confined to the South

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

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

Description

The multi-stemmed willow karee bush grows to a height of about 4 meters. It has trifoliate leaves with dark green surfaces and grey furry undersides. The leaflets are each lanceolate to narrowly elliptical. Its flowers appear in Spring. They are small and cream coloured. The female plants produce clumps of tiny berries.

Distribution and habitat

This species is indigenous to the

Western Cape Province The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

. Its range extends from

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

in the west, eastwards to the Caledon and

Swellendam Swellendam is the fifth oldest town in South Africa (after Cape Town, Stellenbosch, Simon's Town, and Paarl), a town with 17,537 inhabitants situated in the Western Cape province. The town has over 50 provincial heritage sites, most of them ...

regions. In the north, it occurs in the Malmesbury, Worcester, Hex river and Cedarberg regions. It grows on low hill slopes and dense thickets of it can be found growing alongside rivers and roads.Coates Palgrave, M. (2002) ''Trees of southern Africa''. Struik, Cape Town.

References

* angustifolia Flora of South Africa Trees of South Africa Renosterveld {{Anacardiaceae-stub