3101.000 Capparis L.

Description of the genus

Shrubs or small trees, often climbing; branches often spiny. Leaves simple, entire. Inflorescences of terminal or axillary racemes, sometimes condensed into corymbs or umbels. Flowers bisexual. Sepals 4. Petals usually 4. Stamens 6-many. Androgynophore very short. Gynophore present. Fruit a usually indehiscent, spherical, ovoid or elongated berry.

Worldwide: 250 species in tropical and warm regions

Mozambique: 10 taxa.

Insects associated with this genus:
Belenois aurota (Brown-veined white) Food plant
Belenois gidica (African veined white) Food plant
Belenois thysa (False dotted border) Food plant
Colotis amata (Topaz tip, Topaz arab) Larval food plant
Colotis evenina (Common orange tip) Food plant
Colotis evippe (Smoky orange tip) Food plant
Colotis pallene (Bushveld orange tip) Larval foodplant
Leptosia alcesta (African wood white) Food plant
Capparis erythrocarpos var. rosea

Links to taxa:     View: living plant images - herbarium specimen images - all images for this genus

SpeciesFZ divisionsContent
brassii DC.GI,M
cartilaginea Decne.N
citrifolia Lam.N,GI,M
erythrocarpos Isert var. rosea (Klotzsch) DeWolfN,Z,T,MS,GIDescription, Image
fascicularis DC. var. fascicularis GI,MDescription, Image
scheffleri Gilg & Gilg-Ben.N
sepiaria L. var. subglabra (Oliv.) DeWolfN,T,MSDescription, Image
tomentosa Lam.N,Z,T,MS,GI,MDescription, Image
viminea Hook. f. & Thomson ex Oliv. var. viminea N,MSDescription
viminea Hook. f. & Thomson ex Oliv. var. orthacantha (Gilg & Gilg-Ben.) DeWolf[NrEnd]N

Other sources of information about Capparis:

Our websites:

Flora of Botswana: Capparis
Flora of Burundi: Capparis
Flora of Caprivi: Capparis
Flora of Malawi: Capparis
Flora of Zambia: Capparis
Flora of Zimbabwe: Capparis

External websites:

African Plants: A Photo Guide (Senckenberg): Capparis
BHL (Biodiversity Heritage Library): Capparis
EOL (Encyclopedia of Life): Capparis
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility): Capparis
Google: Web - Images - Scholar
iNaturalist: Capparis
IPNI (International Plant Names Index): Capparis
JSTOR Plant Science: Capparis
Mansfeld World Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Crops: Capparis
Plants of the World Online: Capparis
Tropicos: Capparis
Wikipedia: Capparis

Copyright: Mark Hyde, Bart Wursten, Petra Ballings and Meg Coates Palgrave, 2007-25

Hyde, M.A., Wursten, B.T., Ballings, P. & Coates Palgrave, M. (2025). Flora of Mozambique: Genus page: Capparis.
https://www.mozambiqueflora.com/speciesdata/genus.php?genus_id=630, retrieved 31 March 2025

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