Botanical atlas

Karee

Searsia lancea

Long before it was planted as a shade tree along South African streets, the karee was a working tree of the household. Communities across the drier reaches of southern Africa turned to its bark for a warming decoction when the stomach was unsettled, chewed its slender twigs to clean the teeth and freshen the breath, and used washes made from the leaves and bark on troubled skin. Its dense, termite-resistant wood was carved into tool handles and fence posts, and its small tart fruits were fermented into a traditional drink, much the way its northern cousins, the true sumacs, were used for tang and tartness in cooking. It is a tree that earned its keep in every part of daily life, not just as medicine.

Safety.

Karee is related to poison ivy, mango, and cashew, and its sap or crushed leaves can irritate skin or cause allergic contact dermatitis in sensitive people. Traditional bark preparations were taken only occasionally, not as a regular tonic.