• Edible: Fruit

• Tree 6-9m tall

• Native to Southern Africa.

• Drought tolerant, frost hardy −6°C, tolerates saline soils

• Use: The ripe fruits are tasty, reminiscent of a small apple. They can be eaten fresh or sprinkled with sugar to complement their natural acidity. Aside from being eaten fresh, the fruit can be made into jam, used in desserts, or pickled.

• Hedge: Suitable as an impenetrable hedge. 

• Edible: Fruit

• Evergreen shrub or small tree 5m tall

• Drought & frost tolerant

• Use: The currant-like fruits of all the Searsia species are edible. They are quite sour to the taste and traditional beer can be made from fermenting the fruit. In former times they were ground into a meal and used to make cakes that were roasted on the embers. 

Searsia lucida is useful for conserving soil, preventing erosion, and is often used for stabilizing coastal dunes, as well as being a good garden subject, in harsh coastal environments. Because Searsia lucida is so hardy it does not require any special attention once it is established. It has an important role as a pioneer species in the ecological cycle of plant succession, as it is able to establish itself under harsh environmental conditions, such as drought, salt spray and high wind, often providing shelter for less tough and slower-growing species.

• Ecology: Attracts berry and fruit-eating birds to a garden.

• Hedge: Evergreen and fast growing, it can be used for informal hedging and screening. Makes an excellent coastal hedge or screen and will provide shade and shelter for slower, softer plant species.

• Shrub/medium multistemmed tree 9m tall (dioecious)

• Native to Southern Africa

• Hardy, drought & frost-resistant plant

• Use: It plays a role as a pioneer species in the cycle of plant succession. Often found growing from termite mounds.

• Fodder: For cattle farmers, it makes a useful fodder tree.

• Ecology: Birds are particularly fond of the fruits. Wattled Starling and Red-eyed Bulbuls have been seen gorging on them. Elephant, impala and kudu eat shoots and young leaves. It is the host plant to the Foxtrot Copper butterfly. In natural areas elephant, impala and kudu browse on the tree.

• Hedge: It is sometimes used as a hedge and is suitable for using as an ornamental.

• Edible: Fruit

• Evergreen multi-stemmed tree 12m tall

• Native to central & Southern Africa

• Drought hardy and tolerate mild frost.

• Use: Fleshy fruits that are yellowish green, turning bright red as they ripen. They are edible to both man and animals and are said to be sweet tasting. Although the fruits are edible and sweet, they may be sour and bitter.

• Fodder: Young leaves are also eaten by cattle and goats.

• Ecology: A wide range of animals, including samango monkeys, bush pigs, kudu, baboons and warthogs, favour the ripe fruit. Cape Parrots, Purple-crested Louries, African Green Pigeons, francolins and Black-eyed Bulbuls feast on the ripe fruits while still on the tree. The leaves are eaten by the black rhino, browsed by nyala, kudu, red and grey duiker and blue wildebeest. This is also a good bee forage tree.

• Hedge: In groups, these trees form a dense and beautiful hedge that can be used as a noise, wind and dust barrier.

• Edible: Fruit & nuts

• A small tree or small shrub 2-6m tall

• Native to South & East Africa

• Frost resistant and drought tolerant

• High in vitamin C and potassium

• Use: Fruits have a refreshing sour taste, best eaten when slightly over-ripe, but can also be used for making jam, dessert and jelly. They can be added to porridge. Oil from the seed is used to soften human skins and for softening animal hides. It is also used for lamps. The nuts are also eaten.

• Ecology: The larvae of various butterflies including the Natal bar, Silvery bar, Bowker's sapphire,Saffron sapphire, Brown playboy and Bush scarlet butterfly feed on the leaves. 

• Hedge: It is sometimes grown as an ornamental and is used in living fences.

• Edible: Fruit (Leaves toxic)

• Bushy shrub 4m tall

• Afrotropical realm 

• Drought and light frost tolerant

• Use: The small fruit is sweet & eaten by people, animals & birds when ripe.

• Ecology: Host plant of the Charaxes butterflies. 

• Hedge: Can be used for creating a hedge or barrier.

• ⚠️Toxicity: The plant contains various alkaloids which are toxic.

• Edible: Fruit

• Shrub 4m

• Tropical and Southern Africa.

• Drought-resistant, Cold-tolerant, young plants needs protection.

• Use: The fruit can be eaten out of hand or made into pies, jams, jellies, and sauces.

• Hedge: The plant can be grown as a hedge. It is normally heavily pruned to form a thorny dense barrier that can keep animals out.

• ⚠️Toxicity: The fruit of the Natal plum shrub is the only edible part of the plant. A relative of the poisonous Oleander, the stems and leaves of the Natal plum are toxic and should never be consumed.

• Edible: Fruit & seeds

• Shrub/small tree 5 m tall (dioecious)

• Native to central and southern Africa, except the winter-rainfall

• Use: The fruit has a pleasant sweetish taste, with jelly-like flesh when ripe. Fruits can be used to make beer, and its seeds can be used as a coffee substitute.

• Ecology: Host plant of the zigzag emperor moth. 

• Hedge: It is sometimes planted as a hedge plant and shade tree.

• A shrub/small tree 5-6m tall

• Native to dry areas of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

• Use: It is a nitrogen fixer. Some nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant and some can also be used by other plants growing nearby. 

• Fodder: The pods, young twigs, leaves and flowers are all highly nutritious and are eagerly eaten by livestock and game.

• Ecology: In the wild it is browsed by animals such as black rhino, kudu, eland and giraffe.  It is the host plant of the Marbled emperor moth (Heniocha dyops). Other plants find refuse from livestock between the tangled tickets.

• Growing: Drought-resistant, spreads rapidly, both from seed and vegetatively, to the extent that it can become a menace. 

• Hedge: Can form an impenetrable hedge.