Family Simaroubaceae
This is a straight-stemmed tree with a fine, round , leafy crown. It grows from 6 to 18 m high with a trunk diameter of 0.8 m. The leaves are sticky when young, colouring splendidly to gold and red in autumn. The leaf is compound with 6-10 leaflets and one terminal one. The narrowly ovate leaflets are 20-80 x 10-25 mm, with or without hairs. The apex is narrowly tapering to a long point.
Kirkia acuminata flowers from October to December with small greenish cream flowers. The fruits are thinly woody capsules of about 10-20 x 6-10 mm that are 4-angled, and split into four seed pods when mature. Each seed pod contains a seed. The wood is yellowish brown, light and soft.
According to Palmer & Pitman (1972), the white seringa is regarded as a sacred tree in some places in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean women also use the bark of the tree for weaving. In Gauteng, white seringa is planted around enclosures for livestock (kraals).
Kirkia acuminata extends from Gauteng, Botswana, Namibia, and to the north in Tanzania. It grows in the bushveld and lowveld of Gauteng in deep, sandy soil or on rocky hills.
