Capparis

Capparis
Maiapilo (Capparis sandwichiana)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Brassicales
Family: Capparaceae
Tribe: Cappareae
Genus: Capparis
L.
Species

146, see text

Synonyms
  • Anisosticte Bartl.
  • Apophyllum F.Muell.
  • Busbeckea Endl.
  • Calyptranthus Thouars
  • Destrugesia Gaudich.
  • Destruguezia Benth. & Hook.f., orth. var.
  • Dhofaria A.G.Mill.
  • Hombak Adans.
  • Marsesina Raf.
  • Oligloron Raf.
  • Olofuton Raf.
  • Petersia Klotzsch
  • Sodada Forssk.
C.spinosa var nummularia fruit

Capparis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. It includes about 140 species of shrubs or lianas which are collectively known as caper shrubs or caperbushes. Capparis species occur over a wide range of habitat in the subtropical and tropical regions of Africa, Eurasia, Australasia, and the Pacific.

The genus was included in the family Brassicaceae in the unrevised APG II system.

Plant description

The leaves are simple, entire, and rarely reduced. Flowers are bisexual, bracteates, axillary or supra-axillary, solitary or in rows, in racemes or umbels. Sepals and petals are 4 in number and are free. Stamens are many, ovary on a gynophore, one-celled. Fruit is a berry, globose or ellipsoid.

Uses and ecology

Caperbushes are mainly used by humans for their fruit, which are rich in micronutrients. C. spinosa, simply known as caper, yields fruit and more importantly flower buds, which are widely used pickled as a vegetable condiment. The flower bud has been used since antiquity, and many classical authors indicate that the berry or small white blossom was commonly used as an aphrodisiac and a condiment. The plant is known in classical Hebrew as אֲבִיּוֹנָה, a word that appears in one verse of Scripture (Ecclesiastes 12:5).

The fruit of other species, such as karir (C. decidua), are also used for cooking; C. mitchellii and the Wild passionfruit (the local subspecies of C. spinosa) are well-known bush tucker in Australia. Mabinlang seeds (C. masaikai) are eaten as sweets.

Mabinlang is also used in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Aspalathos, the root of a shrub contained for example in the sacred Ancient Egyptian incense kp.t (kyphi), is sometimes considered to be C. spinosa. Other species have also recorded uses in herbalism and folk medicine; dedicated research is largely lacking however. Mabinlins are sweet-tasting proteins found in Mabinlang seed (and possibly in other Capparis species); at least one of them is highly resistant to heat. The market for mabinlins is not large, but this is mainly due to insufficient supply rather than to lack of demand.

The 1889 book The Useful Native Plants of Australia records that Capparis canescens was also referred to as "Mondoleu" by the indigenous people from Rockhampton area of Queensland and that "The fruit is pyriform and half an inch in diameter. It is eaten by the aborigines without any preparation." (Thozet.) Mr. P. O'Shanesy observes that the pulpy part in which these Australian species of Capparis are imbedded is a good substitute for mustard."

Caperbushes from arid regions - chiefly C. decidua - are highly useful in landscape gardening, afforestation and reforestation. They can stop soil erosion and preserve agricultural land. Any large-flowered species can be used to attract butterflies. The Crimson Rose (Atrophaneura hector), a spectacular swallowtail butterfly of South Asia, likes to visit flowers of C. spinosa in the winter months for example.

Many birds eat ripe Capparis spinosa fruit and seeds.

The fruit and seeds of caperbushes are relished by many birds and other animals such as spiny-tailed lizards. Capparis plants are highly important as food for certain Lepidoptera caterpillars, many of them being Pierinae:

The plant pathogenic ascomycete fungus Mycosphaerella capparis was described from a caperbush. Some species of Capparis are becoming rare, mainly due to habitat destruction, and a few are seriously threatened with extinction.

Species

Drawing of Capparis micracantha, showing its parts. Francisco Manuel Blanco, Flora de Filipinas, etc (1880-1883)
Drawing of Capparis "sepiaria", showing its parts. Francisco Manuel Blanco, Flora de Filipinas, etc. (1880-1883)

As of January 2026, Plants of the World Online accepts the following 146 species:

Formerly placed here

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Genus: Capparis L." Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. 2006-03-31. Archived from the original on 2009-05-07. Retrieved 2010-11-22.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Capparis Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  3. 1 2 Petkar, Tejaswini; et al. "Antimicrobial Activity of Capparis zeylanica L. and Capparis sepiaria L." Medical and Health Sciences Research Journal. 1 (1): 66–69.
  4. ↑ Maiden, J. H. (1889). The Useful Native Plants of Australia, (Including Tasmania). Sydney: The Technological Museum of New South Wales. p. 12. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Hébert et al. (2004), Brower et al. (2006)
  6. 1 2 3 Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). India, a Lifescape: Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press. p. 223. ISBN 9788173713545.
  7. ↑ Choudhary, Vijay (July 2018). "Description of White orange tip butterfly – Ixias marianne". Nature Conservation. Archived from the original on 2018-07-25.
  8. 1 2 Robinson, Gaden S.; Ackery, Phillip R.; Kitching, Ian; Beccaloni, George W.; Hernández, Luis M. (2023). "HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants". Natural History Museum. doi:10.5519/havt50xw.

References