Capparis spinosa L.
Inc. C. ovata Desf., C. aegyptia Lam., C. sicula Veill., C. atlantica Inocencio, D. Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz, C. orientalis Veill., C. zoharyi Inocencio, D. Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz.
Eng.: Common caperbush, caperbush, flinders rose. Spa.: Tapanera, tapenera, alcaparrera. Fre.: Câprier, fabagelle. Ara.: Kabbar, kronbeiza, felfel el djebel, charnek, (Sudan): laisuf, lasaf, lassaf. Tam.:/Tamahaq: Taïlulut, telulult, tilulat, tululut.
Subshrub, erect, prostrate or decumbent, usually not exceeding 1 m in height, but by spreading its stems on the ground or hanging from walls or rocks it can reach up to 2-3 m. Old branches straight, ± brown-greyish, younger branches green or reddish. Internodes 1.5-7 cm. Stipules vestigial, promptly caducous, or ± persistent (depending on the subspecies and the habitat), spiny and curved backwards, up to 0.6 cm in length. Leaves (2-8.5 × 2-8 cm) from ovate to suborbicular, sometimes broadly elliptic, generally rounded at the base, acute or obtuse apex, sometimes emarginate, often mucronate (mucro up to 1.5 mm, straight or somewhat curved). Leaf veins visible and, depending on habitat and the subspecies, ± prominent. Petiole 0.5-2.5 cm. Flowers slightly zygomorphic, with sepals 1-2.5 × 0.5-1.2 cm. Pedicels 2-8 cm. Stamens 30-150, anthers 1.3-3 mm, with rounded apices. Fruit from oblong to obovate-ellipsoid; green at first, becoming dark green or dark red and opening longitudinally when ripe; it opens on one side, showing the reddish, pink or yellowish pulp inside, filled with small seeds; then, it opens on the other or several sides and it becomes blackish. Seeds dark brown when mature, subspherical, about 2-3.5 mm.
Flowering:
March to September.
Fruiting:
May to October.
Habitat:
Very diverse terrains, from near sea level to about 2,000 m, often close to human dwellings, since it has been a widely cultivated species since ancient times and, subsequently, there has been much speculation about the origin of some subspecies and varieties.
Distribution:
Mediterranean region, Sahara and Middle East, to the E it reaches India.
Observations:
The specific variability of the section Capparis, of the genus Capparis, recognised by Cristina Inocencio et al. (2006) essentially remains, but for the infraspecific variability we follow Silvio Fici (2014). This author brings together all the diversity of the section Capparis in the Mediterranean and western Asia into 2 subspecies of C. spinosa.
C. spinosa subsp. spinosa is characterised by its extended or erect branches, highly branched, with stipules relatively strong, spiny, generally curved backwards and decurrent at the base. In North Africa there are 4 varieties. Var. canescens Coss. [C. spinosa subsp. canescens (Coss.) A.Bolòs & O.Bolòs, C. ovata var. canescens (Coss.) Heywood, C. sicula Veill., C. spinosa var. sicula (Veill.) Hausskn., C. spinosa subsp. sicula (Veill.) Holmboe, C. ovata var. sicula (Veill.) Zohary, C. ovata subsp. sicula (Veill.) Pugnaire], procumbent subshrub, differentiated by its pubescent branchlets, leaves oblong, elliptic, ovate-elliptic or obovate-elliptic, not coriaceous, from pubescent to tomentose; it grows across almost the entire Mediterranean region (it seems absent in Tunisia), the Arabian Peninsula and west-central Asia, reaching towards the E to NW India and Nepal. The other 3 varieties have orbicular or broadly ovate or obovate leaves, and glabrous or glabrescent branchlets and young leaves. Var. spinosa has large leaves [2,4-5(7) × 2-4(6) cm] and petals [2-3.5(4) cm]; it grows across the Mediterranean Europe and in North Africa, in NE Algeria and N of Tunisia; it has also been cited in the S of the Sinai Peninsula. The following 2 varieties have smaller leaves and petals. Var. aegyptia (Lam.) Boiss. [C. aegyptia Lam., C. spinosa subsp. aegyptia (Lam.) Kit Tan & Runemark, C. sinaica Veill., C. spinosa var. deserti Zohary, C. deserti (Zohary) Täckh. & Boulos, C. zoharyi Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz, C. hierosolymitana Danin] is an erect subshrub, glabrous, with orange stipules; it differs also by its leaves with rounded apex, truncated or retuse; adult leaves fleshy and greenish-blueish due to being covered by a waxy coating; it is found in the N of North African countries, the Greek islands, Anatolia, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and the Arabian Peninsula. Var. atlantica (Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) Fici (C. atlantica Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) is a procumbent subshrub, glabrous, with leaves with an acute apex, green, without a waxy coating; it is endemic to the Moroccan Atlas mountains.
C. spinosa subsp. rupestris (Sm.) Nyman, differs in its usually pendent branches, slightly or not branching, with usually setaceous stipules, caducous, straight when persistent (var. ovata) or slightly retrorse (var myrtifolia), slightly or not decurrent at the base. This subspecies comprises 3 varieties, all present in North Africa. Var. rupestris [C. inermis Turra non Forssk., C. spinosa subsp. inermis A.Bolòs & O.Bolòs, C. orientalis Veill., C. spinosa subsp. orientalis (Veill.) Jafri] is characterised by its orbicular or broadly ovate or obovate leaves, with obtuse or retuse apex, and stipules (up to 2.5 mm) mainly setaceous (since stipules are very promptly caducous the whole plant can frequently appear without stipules); it is common in peninsulas and islands across the European Mediterranean region and SW Anatolia, in North Africa it is distributed in the northern parts of Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. The other 2 varieties have more elongated leaves, ovate, ovate-elliptic or ovate-lanceolate, with acute apex, and larger stipules (up to 4 mm), usually persistent. Var. ovata (Desf.) Fici [C. ovata Desf., C. spinosa var. ovata (Desf.) Batt., C. sicula var. kruegeriana Pamp., C. spinosa var. rupestris f. kruegeriana (Pamp.) Pamp., C. spinosa subsp. orientalis var. kruegeriana (Pamp.) Jafri] is further characterised by its pubescent young branches, leaves subcoriaceous, from ovate to ovate-elliptic (2-5.5 × 1.7-4.5 cm), flexible mucro, and stipules almost straight (if curved, antrorse); it seems to be distributed only in North Africa, in dry areas of central and N of Morocco, NE Algeria, central Tunisia and N of Libya. Var. myrtifolia (Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) Fici (C. ovata Desf. subsp. myrtifolia Inocencio, D.Rivera, Obón & Alcaraz) has glabrous young branches, coriaceous or subcoriaceous leaves, ovate-lanceolate, smaller (2.3-4 × 0.9-1.9 cm) and rigid mucro; endemic to the mountain massifs of central Sahara (Ahaggar, Tassili n’Ajjer Tibesti, Ennedi and other smaller mountains).
Conservation status:
Rare but widely distributed species. Currently, in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species it is evaluated as Least Concern (LC) at a global level (Rankou, M´Sou, Diarra & Ait Babahmad, 2020). In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) the la var. canescens has been considered as Least Concern (LC), the var. aegyptia as Critically Endangered (CR) and the var. atlantica as Near Threatened (NT). In the updated red list of Egypt (Shaltout & Bedair, 2023) the different infraspecific taxa have normally been considered as Least Concern (LC).
