Capparis
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Capparis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae.[3] 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.[2]
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.[3]Template:R/superscript
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."[4]
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.
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:
- Appias lyncida (chocolate albatross) - recorded on C. heyneana and C. roxburghii.
- Astraptes fulgerator (two-barred flasher) - recorded on C. frondosa.[5]
- Belenois aurota (caper white or pioneer) - recorded on C. zeylanica.
- Cepora nerissa (common gull) - mainly on C. zeylanica.
- Hebomoia glaucippe (great orangetip) - recorded on C. monii, C. roxburghii and C. sepiaria.
- Ixias marianne (white orangetip) - recorded on C. grandis, C. sepiaria, C. decidua, and C. divaricata.[6][7]
- Leptosia nina (psyche) - recorded on C. zeylanica and others.
- Pareronia ceylanica (dark wanderer) - recorded on C. heydeana,[8] C. rheedii[6]
- Pareronia valeria (common wanderer) - recorded on C. zeylanica, C. rheedii,[6] C. heydeana[8]
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
As of January 2026[update], Plants of the World Online accepts the following 146 species:[2]Template:R/superscript
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Formerly placed here
- Adansonia gregorii F.Muell. (as Capparis gibbosa A.Cunn.)
- Boscia albitrunca (Burch.) Gilg & Benedict (as C. albitrunca Burch.)
- Boscia oleoides (Burch. ex DC.) Toelken (as C. oleoides Burch. ex DC.)
- Crateva magna (Lour.) DC. (as C. magna Lour.)
- Morisonia flexuosa L. (as C. flexuosa (L.) L.) – Limber caper
- Morisonia hastata (Jacq.) Christenh. & Byng (as C. hastata – Broadleaf caper
- Morisonia heterophylla (Ruiz & Pav. ex DC.) Christenh. & Byng (as C. heterophylla Ruiz & Pav. ex DC.)
- Morisonia pulcherrima (Jacq.) Miers (as C. pulcherrima Jacq.)
- Morisonia retusa (Griseb.) Christenh. & Byng (as C. retusa Griseb.)
- Morisonia salicifolia (Griseb.) Christenh. & Byng (as C. salicifolia Griseb.)
- Morisonia scabrida (Kunth) Seem. (as C. scabrida Kunth)
- Morisonia speciosa (Griseb.) Cornejo & H.H.Iltis (as C. speciosa Griseb.)
- Ritchiea reflexa (Thonn. & Schumach.) Gilg & Gilg-Ben (as C. reflexa Thonn. & Schumach.)
See also
Footnotes
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."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.
- ^ a b c d Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Capparis Tourn. ex L." Plants of the World Online. Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 2026. Retrieved 8 January 2026.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Petkar, Tejaswini; et al. "Antimicrobial Activity of Capparis zeylanica L. and Capparis sepiaria L." Medical and Health Sciences Research Journal. 1 (1): 66–69.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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.
- ^ Hébert et al. (2004), Brower et al. (2006)
- ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kunte, Krushnamegh (2000). India, a Lifescape: Butterflies of Peninsular India. Universities Press. p. 223. ISBN 9788173713545.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Choudhary, Vijay (July 2018). "Description of White orange tip butterfly – Ixias marianne". Nature Conservation. Archived from the original on 2018-07-25.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.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
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- Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.Brower, Andrew V.Z. (2006): Problems with DNA barcodes for species delimitation: ‘ten species’ of Astraptes fulgerator reassessed (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae). Systematics and Biodiversity 4(2): 127–132. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers". PDF fulltext
- Page Template:Smallcaps/styles.css has no content.Hébert, Paul D.N.; Penton, Erin H.; Burns, John M.; Janzen, Daniel H. & Hallwachs, Winnie (2004): Ten species in one: DNA barcoding reveals cryptic species in the semitropical skipper butterfly Astraptes fulgerator. PNAS 101(41): 14812–14817. Script error: No such module "CS1 identifiers". PDF fulltext Supporting Appendices
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