Searsia pyroides, the common currant-rhus, is a very variable, often bushy and thorny tree or shrub native to southern Africa. It is hardy and drought tolerant, and male and female plants are separate, so only female plants bear the small red fruits.
Family
Anacardiaceae (Cashew family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water young plants until established, then needs little or no supplementary water.
Soil
Well-drained soil, including rocky or poor ground.
Temperature
Tolerates hot, dry conditions; frost hardy in its native range, with cold limits varying by locality.
How easy
Easy
Native range
Ethiopia to S. Africa
Climate
desert or dry shrubland
About
Searsia pyroides, previously known as Rhus pyroides, (common currant-rhus English, gewone taaibos Afrikaans, nhlokoshiyane isiZulu) is a species of Searsia, native to southern Africa. This tree occurs throughout the whole of South Africa, a part of Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania and in some areas of Namibia near Windhoek.
It is very variable in all respects, though it is usually bushy and often thorny. It is found in bushveld, dry thornveld, on rocky hillsides, termite mounds, water courses and even on the fringes of forests. It is very hardy, tough, drought resistant and deciduous.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Searsia pyroides by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.