SPECIES DESCRIPTION
CAPPARIS SPINOSA subsp. SPINOSA
Including Capparis spinosa subsp. rupestris
Family:- CAPPARACEAE
Common Name:- Caper
Synonyms:- Capparis Spinosa
Meaning:- Capparis (Gr) From the Arabic, kabar, for capers.
Spinosa (L) Spiny, with spines.
General description:- Straggling greyish shrub, with pairs of spines at each leaf
base.
Stems:-
a) up to 1.5 m.
b) trailing or pendent, much-branched.
Leaves:-
1) Alternate, short stalked (petiolate),
2) Ovate to suborbicular,
3) Blunt (obtuse) or distinctly notched at the apex (emarginate), sometimes
obscurely ending abruptly in a sharp point (mucronate).
4) Stipules bristly (setaceous) to spiny (spinose), often recurved, but sometimes
weakly developed. rounded to oval, untoothed, thick, not spine-tipped.
Flowers:-
1) Slightly irregular (zygomorphic).
2) White, occasionally flushed with pink.
3) 50-70mm.
4) Sepals purplish.
Fruit:-
1) Large and berry-like, to 50 mm,
2) Green or yellowish,
3) Oblong to somewhat pear-shaped (pyriform).
4) Splitting eventually into two.
Key features:-
1) Stipules bristly (setaceous) to spiny (spinose),
Habitat:- Rocky habitats, cliffs and walls etc. 0-300(-800) m.
Distribution:- Coastal areas throughout Greece and the Mediterranean region very
variable, often cultivated. Fairly limited distribution on Crete mainly around the
central region.
.
Flowering time:- May-July.
Photos by:- Steve Lenton
CAPPARIS SPINOSA subsp. RUPESTRIS
Synonyms:- None
Meaning:- Rupestris (L) Of rock, living in rocky places.
Resembling subsp. spinosa, but differering in the following characters
1) Stems, ± simple.
2) Stipules small or absent, not spine-tipped.
Habitat:- As for subsp. spinosa,
Distribution:-
Flowering time:- As for subsp. spinosa,
