Capparis | |
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Maiapilo ( Capparis sandwichiana ) | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Brassicales |
Family: | Capparaceae |
Tribe: | Cappareae |
Genus: | Capparis L. (1753) [1] |
Species [2] | |
142, see text | |
Synonyms [2] | |
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Capparis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae. [3] It includes 142 species [2] 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.
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. [4]
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 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." [5]
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:
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.
Plants of the World Online currently includes: [2]
Capparis spinosa, the caper bush, also called Flinders rose, is a perennial plant that bears rounded, fleshy leaves and large white to pinkish-white flowers.
Dracaena is a genus of about 120 species of trees and succulent shrubs. The formerly accepted genera Pleomele and Sansevieria are now included in Dracaena. In the APG IV classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae. It has also formerly been separated into the family Dracaenaceae or placed in the Agavaceae.
Gentianaceae is a family of flowering plants of 103 genera and about 1600 species.
Cissus is a genus of approximately 350 species of lianas in the grape family (Vitaceae). They have a cosmopolitan distribution, though the majority are to be found in the tropics.
Cleome is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cleomaceae, commonly known as spider flowers, spider plants, spider weeds, or bee plants. Previously, it had been placed in the family Capparaceae, until DNA studies found the Cleomaceae genera to be more closely related to the Brassicaceae than the Capparaceae. Cleome and clammyweed can sometimes be confused.
Miliusa is a genus of plants in family Annonaceae. Species have been recorded from tropical and subtropical Asia to northern Australia.
Olax is a plant genus in the family Olacaceae. The name derives from the Latin, olax (malodorous), and refers to the unpleasant scent of some of the Olax species. Olax is an Old World genus represented by several climbers, some species have leaves and fruits smelling of garlic such as Olax subscorpioidea and Olax gambecola, seeds of the latter are used as condiments in parts of West Africa. In India Olax nana is well known as one of the first species to emerge after forest fires, the shoots growing directly from buried roots.
Tetracera is a genus of flowering plants of the Dilleniaceae family native to the tropics. Several species are lianas.
Inuleae is a tribe of flowering plants in the subfamily Asteroideae.
Crateva is a genus of flowering plants in the caper family, Capparaceae. It includes 21 species which range through the tropical regions of the world, including the tropical Americas, sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian subcontinent, Indochina, southern China, Japan, Malesia, Papuasia, Queensland, and the South Pacific.
Connarus is a genus of plants in the family Connaraceae.
Morisonia is a genus of flowering plants in the family Capparaceae, found across the Americas from the United States to Argentina. They are typically shrubs or small trees. The genus was recently enlarged with New World Capparis species due to existing taxonomic instability.