M. Thulin (1999) Sageretia. Flora of Somalia 2: 153-154
Plants evergreen shrubs up to 3 m tall; spines present, few to numerous; branchlets glabrous to pubescent. Leaves petiolate; petioles 1-6 mm long, glabrous to stiffly hairy; blades leathery, ovate to broadly elliptic, 0.5-3.8 cm long, 0.3-3.2 cm wide, midribs glabrous to stiffly hairy, bases rounded to truncate, margins serrulate to crenate or subentire. Inflorescences spikes 2-10 cm long; flowers yellowish subsessile; sepals 1-1.5 mm long, petals 0.5-1mm long, equalling the stamens in length, ovaries solitary, superior, surrounded by a thin disk, styles about 1mm long, stigmas capitate. Drupes subglobose, about 6 mm in diameter first red, turning black when ripe, with 2(-3) seeds enclosed in the thick, hard endocarp of the drupe.
Sageretia thea grows in evergreen bushland and open Juniperus forests at 1100-1750m. It is known from Somaliland (regions N1 and 2 of the Flora of Somalia) Eritrea, and Ethiopia in Africa and extends east from there through the Arabian Peninsula to western Asia and, after a break, continues to eastern Asia and Japan. The break may reflect lack of knowledge.