Searsia pentaphylla (Jacq.) F.A.Barkley
Rhus pentaphylla (Jacq.) Desf.
Eng.: Tizra tree. Spa.: Tizra. Fre.: Sumac à cinq feuilIes. Ara.: Tizrha, tizra, tazrha, rhirqa, leqq. Tam.: Taza, tazad, azad.
Shrub up to 3(4) m in height, spiny, very ramose, sometimes intricate. Stems tortuous, with greyish-brown, fissured bark. Branches with strong spines, greyish. Branchlets also greyish, not reddish as in S. tripartita. Leaves deciduous in summer, with 3-5 leaflets, alternate, generally grouped in fascicles. Leaflets linear or linear-spatulate, entire or with the tip divided in 3 lobules or acute or obtuse teeth —the central lobule is the largest and the 2 lateral ones are shorter—, leaves green on both sides, young leaves slightly pubescent. Petiole well developed, almost as long or longer than the leaf, flattened, with lateral foliaceous wings (when they are very wide they look like an extra leaflet). Inflorescence in racemes of axillary cymes, of unisexual flowers. Calyx with 5 small triangular sepals, green. Corolla with 5 oblong petals, opened in the shape of a star, yellow. Stamens 5, borne along the edge of the central fleshy disc. Fruit a globose drupe, greenish-yellowish at first, then red and finally blackish, smooth and shiny, with 3 small appendages at the top.
Flowering:
March to May.
Fruiting:
July to October.
Habitat:
Open forests, thickets and rocky outcrops, on very different soils. Saharan to dry bioclimate, on inframediterranean and thermomediterranean floors.
Distribution:
Sicily and North Africa, from the Atlantic Morocco to N of Tunisia; with some isolated populations in Israel and Palestine. This is a Mediterranean species that reaches its southernmost limit of distribution in the area of the Anti-Atlas.
Conservation status:
Common and widespread species. In the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it is listed as Least Concern (LC) at global level.