Searsia lancea is indigenous in Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Lesotho. It is planted in hedges and as ornamental tree, e.g. in South Africa, but also in desert regions of the United States and Mexico, where it is locally naturalized
Leaves arranged spirally, 3-foliolate; stipules absent; petiole 2–7 cm long, slender but slightly winged near apex, grooved above; leaflets sessile, narrowly lanceolate, often slightly sickle-shaped, 7–24.5 cm × 0.5–3 cm, cuneate at base, acute at apex, margins entire, thinly leathery, pinnately veined with numerous lateral veins.