GRIP

GRIP



Taxon:  Capparis spinosa L.



Summary
Genus:
Capparis
Family:
Capparaceae
Nomen number:
8897
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 1:503. 1753
Verified:
03/12/2008 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
10 (10  active, 1  available) in National Plant Germplasm System.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Capparis spinosa L. subsp. rupestris (Sm.) Nyman (0 active accession[s])
Capparis spinosa L. subsp. spinosa (0 active accession[s])
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman, & M. Hjertson. 2012. Svensk Kulturväxtdatabas, SKUD (Swedish Cultivated and Utility Plants Database; online resource) www.skud.info
  2. Ali, S. I. & S. M. H. Jafri, eds. 1976-. Flora of Libya.
  3. Andrews, F. W. 1950-1956. The flowering plants of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.
  4. Castroviejo, S. et al., eds. 1989-. Flora iberica: plantas vasculares de la Peninsula Iberica e Islas Baleares.
  5. Davis, P. H., ed. 1965-1988. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands.
  6. Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
  7. Encke, F. et al. 1993. Zander: Handwörterbuch der Pflanzennamen, 14. Auflage
  8. Eriksson, O. et al. 1979. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2.
  9. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  10. Fici, S. 2001. Intraspecific variation and evolutionary trends in Capparis spinosa L. (Capparaceae). Pl. Syst. Evol. 228:123-141.
  11. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  12. George, A. S., ed. 1980-. Flora of Australia.
  13. Greuter, W. et al., eds. 1984-. Med-Checklist.
  14. Higton, R. N. & J. R. Akeroyd. 1991. Variation in Capparis spinosa L. in Europe. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 106:104-112.
  15. Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
  16. Inocencio, C. et al. 2006. A systematic revision of Capparis section Capparis (Capparaceae). Ann. Missouri Bot. Gard. 93:145.
  17. Integrated Botanical Information System (IBIS). Australian plant common name database (on-line resource).
  18. Jacobs, M. 1965. The genus Capparis (Capparaceae) from the Indus to the Pacific. Blumea 12:416-418.
  19. Jalas, J. & J. Suominen. 1972-. Atlas florae europaeae.
  20. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
  21. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. 1976. Hortus third.
  22. Magness, J. R. et al. 1971. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1
  23. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. 1998. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2
  24. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
  25. Migahid, A. M. 1978. Flora of Saudi Arabia, ed. 2.
  26. Miller, A. G. & T. A. Cope. 1996-. Flora of the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra.
  27. Mouterde, P. 1966-. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie.
  28. Nasir, E. & S. I. Ali, eds. 1970-. Flora of [West] Pakistan.
  29. Norton, J. et al. 2009. Illustrated checklist of the flora of Qatar.
  30. Ozenda, P. 1977. Flore du Sahara, ed. 2
  31. Personal Care Products Council. INCI
  32. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  33. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. 1962-1963. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie.
  34. Rechinger, K. H., ed. 1963-. Flora iranica.
  35. Rehm, S. 1994. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants
  36. Steenis, C. G. G. J. van, ed. 1948-. Flora malesiana.
  37. Täckholm, V. 1974. Students' flora of Egypt, ed. 2.
  38. Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
  39. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1993. Flora europaea, ed. 2.
  40. Wu Zheng-yi & P. H. Raven et al., eds. 1994-. Flora of China (English edition).
  41. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. 1966-. Flora palaestina.
  42. Zohary, M. et al. 1980-. Conspectus florae orientalis.
Common names
English
caper –
caperbush –
Flinders-rose –
Arabic
shafallah –
French
câprier –
German
Kapernstrauch –
Portuguese
alcaparra –
Spanish
alcaparro –
Swedish
kapris –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaEgypt  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaBahrain  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaQatar  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaSaudi Arabia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaUnited Arab Emirates  
1NativeAsia-TemperateArabian PeninsulaYemen  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusArmenia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusAzerbaijan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusGeorgia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian FederationDagestan 
1NativeAsia-TemperateCaucasusRussian Federation-CiscaucasiaCiscaucasia 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaXinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu 
1NativeAsia-TemperateChinaChinaXizang Zizhiqu 
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKazakhstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaKyrgyzstan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTajikistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaTurkmenistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateMiddle AsiaUzbekistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaAfghanistan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaEgyptSinai 
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIran  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIraq  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaJordan  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentIndia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentNepal  
1NativeAsia-TropicalIndian SubcontinentPakistan  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesia  
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaIndonesiaLesser Sunda Islands 
1NativeAsia-TropicalMalesiaPhilippines  
1NativeAsia-TropicalPapuasiaSolomon Islands  
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaNorthern Territory 
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaQueensland 
1NativeAustralasiaAustraliaAustraliaWestern Australian.
1NativeEuropeEastern EuropeUkraineKrym 
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeCroatia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece incl. Crete
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly incl. Sardinia, Sicily
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance s. & Corsica
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropePortugal  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain incl. Baleares
1NativePacificNorthwestern PacificUnited StatesGuam 
1NativePacificSouthwestern PacificVanuatu  
2Cultivated    widely cult.
4Naturalized    possibly natzd. in some regions
Native
Africa
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • ARABIAN PENINSULA: United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen
  • WESTERN ASIA: Afghanistan, Cyprus, Egypt [Sinai], Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
  • CAUCASUS: Russian Federation-Ciscaucasia [Ciscaucasia], Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russian Federation [Dagestan]
  • MIDDLE ASIA: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
  • CHINA: China [Xinjiang Uygur Zizhiqu, Xizang Zizhiqu]
Asia-Tropical
  • INDIAN SUBCONTINENT: India, Nepal, Pakistan
  • PAPUASIA: Solomon Islands
  • MALESIA: Indonesia [Lesser Sunda Islands], Philippines
Australasia
  • AUSTRALIA: Australia [Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia (n.)]
Europe
  • EASTERN EUROPE: Ukraine [Krym]
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Albania, Greece (incl. Crete), Croatia, Italy (incl. Sardinia, Sicily)
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain (incl. Baleares), France (s. & Corsica), Portugal
Pacific
  • NORTHWESTERN PACIFIC: United States [Guam]
  • SOUTHWESTERN PACIFIC: Vanuatu
Cultivated (widely cult.)
Naturalized (possibly natzd. in some regions)
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Environmentalboundary/barrier/support Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Environmentalornamental Huxley, A., ed. 1992. The new Royal Horticultural Society dictionary of gardening
Food additivesflavoring Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. 1993. Flora europaea, ed. 2.
Food additivesflavoring Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. 1934-1964. Flora SSSR.
Food additivesflavoring Townsend, C. C. & E. Guest. 1966-. Flora of Iraq.
Human foodvegetableflower bud primary source of common caperMcGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Medicinesfolklore Duke, J. A. et al. 2002. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. 2000. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2 American Herbal Products Association, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://grip.mawarid.gov.om/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=8897. Accessed 30 April 2025.