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Caper

Capparis spinosa

Also called Caper bush, Flinders Rose, Caperbush

Caper
Photo: Otto Wilhelm Thomé (1840-1925), Public domain

Caper bush is a perennial, many-branched shrub grown for its edible flower buds and pickled fruit. It thrives in hot, dry, sunny sites with sharply drained soil, and its flowers open on new growth.

Family
Capparaceae (Cappar family)
Grows as
Shrub, Perennial
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently, letting the soil dry out fully between waterings.
Soil
Very well-drained, sandy or rocky soil; tolerates poor and alkaline ground.
Temperature
15–35 °C; protect below about -5 °C, as young plants are frost tender.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Toxic
Edible
Yes, some parts
Native range
Medit. to Mongolia and Indian Subcontinent, Philippines to W. & S. Pacific
Climate
subtropical

About

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.

The taxonomic status of the species is controversial and unsettled. Species within the genus Capparis are highly variable, and interspecific hybrids have been common throughout the evolutionary history of the genus. As a result, some authors have considered C. spinosa to be composed of multiple distinct species, others that the taxon is a single species with multiple varieties or subspecies, or that the taxon C. spinosa is a hybrid between C. orientalis and C. sicula.

Where it grows

Capparis spinosa ranges around the Mediterranean Basin, Arabian Peninsula, and portions of Western and Central Asia.

Other Capparis plants

Sodada · Split-arse-jack · Capparis masaikai · Capparis micracantha · Desert Caper · Capparis sepiaria · Caper

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Caper by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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