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Capparis (caper genus)
Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Rosids >
Eurosid II > Order: Brassicales
> Family: Capparaceae
About 250 species (tropics and
subtropics worldwide), of which seven are native to
southern Africa and an additional species is cultivated
in the region. Capers are the unopened buds of
Capparis spinosa (Caper bush). This species is
native to Asia Minor and the Mediterranean region and has not been
recorded as being cultivated in southern Africa.
Species native to southern Africa
List from
Plants
of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI),
Flora of
Zimbabwe and
Flora of Mozambique.
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Capparis brassii
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Capparis erythrocarpos
Recorded from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. See
Flora of Zimbabwe. |
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Capparis fascicularis
See
Flora of Zimbabwe. |
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Capparis hereroensis |
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Capparis sepiaria
See
Flora of Zimbabwe. |
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Capparis tomentosa (Woolly
caper bush)
See
Flora of Zimbabwe. The roots and stems are popular in southern African traditional medicine and used for
various conditions such as malaria, rheumatism, insanity, snake-bite, jaundice,
headache, cough, pneumonia, tuberculosis and leprosy. This plant is also used to
prevent abortion and treat infertility (van Wyk & Gericke 2000). However,
this species evidently can be poisonous. |
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Capparis viminea
Recorded from Zimbabwe and Mozambique. See
Flora of Zimbabwe. |
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Other species, cultivated in southern Africa
Information from Glen (2002).
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Capparis flexuosa
Native to Indonesia. |
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Publications
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