Searsia albida (Schousb.) Moffett
Rhus albida Schousb.
Fre.: Sumac blanc. Ara.: Azeuaya, zuayya.
Shrub up to 3.5(5) m in height, very ramose. Trunk well defined, almost arboreal when growing within a forest environment. Bark greyish-brown. Young branches pubescent, reddish or greenish-greyish. Leaves with 3 leaflets (rarely 4 or 5), alternate, solitary or in fascicles. Leaflets obovate, broadly obovate or obovate-spatulate, obtuse, entire or with few shallow lobes; central leaflet is always slightly larger than the lateral ones; leaf colour is greenish-ashen to silvery on both sides. Petiole well developed, almost as long as the leaf or sometimes even longer, flattened, with narrow lateral foliaceous wings. Inflorescence in racemes of sparse axillary cymes. Flowers with long peduncles and pedicels. Calyx with 5 very small sepals, triangular, greenish. Corolla with 5 petals opened in the shape of a star, ovate or ovate-oblong, yellow. Stamens 5, inserted along the edge of a fleshy central disc. Fruit a globose drupe, greenish-yellowish at first, then red and finally blackish, with smooth and shiny surface. Fruit terminal appendages inconspicuous or not present.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
July to September.
Habitat:
Forests, thickets and dunes, on rocky-sandy soils of littoral and sublittoral areas. In Saharan to semiarid bioclimate, on inframediterranean floor.
Distribution:
Along the littoral North African Atlantic coastline, from the forests of Juniper sabina, Tetraclinis articulata and Pistacia lentiscus of S of Casablanca to the desert rocky outcrops of Cabo Blanco (western Sahara). This species also grows in the eastern Canary Islands, but it is unknown whether it is native there or it originated from ancient introductions by man.
Conservation status:
Rare species and with small distribution area. Currently, it has not been assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.