44 X. CAPPABIDACE.E. 



7. CAPPARIS, Linn. 



Trees or shrubs, often scandent, unarmed or with stipular thorns. 

 Leaves simple, rarely 0. Inflorescence vai'ious ; flowers white or colored, 

 often showy, usually bracteate. Sepals 4, free or connate at the very 

 base, in 2 series, imbricate, or the 2 exterior subvalvate. Petals 4, imbri- 

 cate. Torus short. Stamens usually many, inserted on the torus at 

 the base of a long gynophore. Ovary stalked, 1-4-celled ; ovules many, 

 on 2-6 parietal placei^tas ; stigma sessile. Bei-ry stalked, globose or 

 cylindric, often elongate, rarely dehiscent. Seeds many, imbedded in 

 pulp; testa crustaceous or coriaceous; embryo convolute. — Distbib. In 

 both tropics and in the warm regions of Europe and Asia ; species ] 20. 



Flowers axillary, solitary or in fascicles of 2-3. 



Prostrate shrub ; leaves orbicular ; thorns usually hooked. 1. C. spinosa. 



Erect shrub ; leaves ovate-lauceolate ; thorns straight 2. C. zeijlanka. 



Erect shrub ; leaves elliptic-lanceolate ; thorns miuute 



or 3. C. Heyncana, 



Shrub or small tree ; leaves narrow-oblong ; thorns straight. 4. C. divaricuta. 

 Flowers corymbose (sometimes racemose in C. grandis). 



Leafless except on the young shoots, on which the leaves 

 are linear 5. C. aphylla. 



Leaves oblong with a callous tip, glabrous ; flowers 4-5 in. 



in diara G. V. Moovii. 



Leaves oblong or obovate, glabrous ; flowers H in. in diam. 7. C. Roxburghii. 



Leaves elliptic-obovate, olive-green-pubescent when young ; 



flowers 1 in. in diam 8. C. grandis. 



Flowers in shortly jjeduncled umbels. 



An erect slirub ; flowers small, few 9. C. pediiuculosa. 



A woody climber 10. C. sepiaria. 



Flowers supra-axillary in a vertical line on the brandies. 



A large climber ; young parts i'uscoustomentose 11. C.horrida. 



A slender climbing shrub ; young parts glabrous 12. C. tenera. 



1. Capparis spinosa, Linn. Sp. PL (1753) p. 503. A diffuse, 

 prostrate shrub ; branches terete, glabrous or pubescent. Leaves variable, 

 |-1|- in. in diam., glaueescent, orbicular or from broadly ovate to obovate, 

 retuse or sometimes acute, mucronate, entire, rounded or cuneate at the 

 base, glabrous or more or less jjubescent; petioles about g in. long; 

 stipules of 2 hooked (rarely straight), orange-colored thorns. Plowers 

 handsome, axillary, solitary; pedicels 1-2 in. long, thickened in fruit. 

 Sepals subequal. Petals white, 1-1| in. long, exceeding the sepals. 

 Filaments purple, longer than the petals. Gynophore 2-3 in. long. 

 Pruit 1-2 in. long, obovoid, ribbed, red when ripe. Seeds globose, 

 smooth, brown. PI. B. I. v. 1, p. 173 ; Pax, in Engl. & Piantl, Pllanzenf. 

 v. 3, part 2, p. 22(i, fig. 136, a, b, c, n ; Talb. Trees, Bomb. p. 10 ; Woodr. 

 in Journ. Bomb. Nat. v. 11 (1807) p. 123 ; Watt, Diet. Econ. Prod. v. 2, 

 p. 133. Capparis Murraijana, Grab. Cat. p. 9; Ualz. & Gibs. p. 9. — 

 Plowers : Jan.-Mar. The Caper plant ; the pickled flower-buds con- 

 stitute the capers of commerce. Vebn. Kuhar; Kahdri. 



In dry beds of streams in many places throughout the Presidency. Konkan : Law ! ; 

 Eaighar, Dahcll '. Dkccan : Mahableshwar, f V(o/.r !, Balzcll ij- Gihson, Woodrow \ 

 Harishcliandar, (1 ih'son (fide (irahmn, 1. c). SiNn : SfocLf ! ; Kirthar moimtains, Jl'vod- 

 row; Kuk Junction on the Eailway Line, Upjier Sind, Coo/ie !— Ui.stkh). Europe (the 

 Mediterranean region), Asia, N. Africa, Australia. 



Yab. (jalcata, Hook. f. & Thorns, in PI. B. I. v. 1, p. 173. Leaves 

 fleshy, ovate-orbicular, tipped with a more or less curved mucro; lower 



