Capparaceae
Capparis

Capparis spinosa L.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 503 (1753)
This species is accepted
The native range of this species is Medit. to Mongolia and Indian Subcontinent, Philippines to W. & S. Pacific. It is a subshrub or shrub and grows primarily in the subtropical biome.

Distribution

Native to:

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Baleares, Caroline Is., Chad, Cook Is., Corse, Cyprus, East Aegean Is., Egypt, Fiji, France, Greece, Gulf States, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kirgizstan, Kriti, Krym, Lebanon-Syria, Lesser Sunda Is., Libya, Marianas, Marshall Is., Mongolia, Morocco, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Niue, North Caucasus, NW. Balkan Pen., Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Pitcairn Is., Portugal, Samoa, Sardegna, Saudi Arabia, Sicilia, Sinai, Society Is., Solomon Is., Spain, Tadzhikistan, Tonga, Transcaucasus, Tuamotu, Tubuai Is., Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Türkiye, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Wallis-Futuna Is., West Himalaya, Xinjiang, Yemen

Introduced into:

Canary Is., Trinidad-Tobago

Synonyms

Homotypic Synonyms

Heterotypic Synonyms

Accepted Infraspecifics

Classification

Kew's Tree of Life Explorer

Discover the flowering plant tree of life and the genomic data used to build it.

View the Tree of Life
PAFTOL

Publications

POWO follows these authorities in accepting this name:

  • Authier, P. & Covillot, J. (2011). Catalogue actualisé des plantes de l'île de Rhodes (Grèce). Saussurea; Travaux de la Société Botanique de Genève 41: 131-170.
  • B.A.Fedtschenko & al. (1948). Flora Turkmenii 3: 1-280. Turkmenskoe gosudarstvennoe izd., Ashkhabad.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Boulos, L. (1999). Flora of Egypt 1: 1-419. Al Hadara Publishing, Cairo.
  • Dimopoulos, P., Raus, T., Bergmeier, E., Constantinidis, T., Iatrou, G., Kokkini, S., Strid, A., & Tzanoudakis, D. (2013). Vascular plants of Greece. An annotated checklist: 1-372. Botanic gardens and botanical museum Berlin-Dahlem, Berlin and Hellenic botanical society, Athens.
  • Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2011). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 3: 1-449. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Fici, S. (2014). A taxonomic revision of the Capparis spinosa group (Capparaceae) from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. Phytotaxa 174: 1-24.
  • Ghazanfar, S.A. (1992). An Annotated Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Oman and their Vernacular names. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2: 1-153.
  • Govaerts, R. (1999). World Checklist of Seed Plants 3(1, 2a & 2b): 1-1532. MIM, Deurne.
  • Komiljon, T., Natalya, B., Avazbek, B., Dilnoza, A., Ziyoviddin, Y., Deng, T. & Sun, H. (2020). Flora of the Dzhizak Province, Uzbekistan: 1-523. China Forestry Publishing House.
  • Korovin, E.P. & Vvedensky, A.I. (eds.) (1955). Flora Uzbekistana 3: 1-824. Izd-va Akademii nauk Uzbekskoi SSR, Tashkent.
  • Kotiya, A., Solanki, Y. & Reddy, G.V. (2020). Flora of Rajasthan: 1-769. Rajasthan state biodiversity board.
  • Kress, W.J., DeFilipps, R.A., Farr, E. & Kyi, D.Y.Y. (2003). A Checklist of the Trees, Shrubs, Herbs and Climbers of Myanmar. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium 45: 1-590. Smithsonian Institution.
  • Litvinskaya, S.A. & Murtazaliev, R.A. (2013). Flora of the Northern Caucasus: An Atlas and Identification Book: 1-688. Fiton XXI.
  • Mao, A.A. & Dash, S.S. (2020). Flowering Plants of India an Annotated Checklist (Dicotyledons) 1: 1-970. Botanical Survey of India.
  • Ovczinnikov, P.N. (ed.) (1975). Flora Tadzhikskoi SSR 4: 1-576. Izd-vo Akademii nauk SSSR, Moskva.
  • Pasha, M.K. & Uddin, S.B. (2013). Dictionary of plant names of Bangladesh, Vasc. Pl.: 1-434. Janokalyan Prokashani, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
  • Shaheen, H., Qureshi, R., Akram, A., Gulfraz, M. & Potter, D. (2014). A preliminary floristic checklist of Thal desert Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistn Journal of Botany 46: 13-18.
  • Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1993). Flora Europaea ed. 2, 1: 1-581. Cambridge University Press.
  • Wood, J.R.I. (1997). A handbook of the Yemen Flora: 1-434. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Kew Backbone Distributions

  • Authier, P. & Covillot, J. (2011). Catalogue actualisé des plantes de l'île de Rhodes (Grèce). Saussurea; Travaux de la Société Botanique de Genève 41: 131-170.
  • Baksh-Comeau, Y., Maharaj, S.S., Adams, C.D., Harris, S.A., Filer, D.L. & Hawthorne, W.D. (2016). An annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Trinidad and Tobago with analysis of vegetation types and botanical 'hotspots'. Phytotaxa 250: 1-431.
  • Collenette, S. (1999). Wildflowers of Saudi Arabia: 1-799. National commission for wildlife conservation and development (NCWCD), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • Dobignard, A. & Chatelain, C. (2011). Index synonymique de la flore d'Afrique du nord 3: 1-449. Éditions des conservatoire et jardin botaniques, Genève.
  • Fici, S. (2014). A taxonomic revision of the Capparis spinosa group (Capparaceae) from the Mediterranean to Central Asia. Phytotaxa 174: 1-24.
  • Ghazanfar, S.A. (1992). An Annotated Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Oman and their Vernacular names. Scripta Botanica Belgica 2: 1-153.
  • Tutin, T.G. & al. (eds.) (1993). Flora Europaea ed. 2, 1: 1-581. Cambridge University Press.

Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

  • Instituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humboldt. (2014). Plantas alimenticias y medicinales nativas de Colombia. 2567 registros, aportados por: Castellanos, C. (Contacto del recurso), Valderrama, N. (Creador del recurso, Autor), Bernal, Y. (Autor), García, N. (Autor). http://i2d.humboldt.org.co/ceiba/resource.do?r=ls_colombia_magnoliophyta_2014

Other Data

Other Kew resources that provide information on this taxon:

Date Reference Identified As Barcode Type Status Has image?
Jan 1, 1968 Davis, P.H. [5048] Palestine K000076945 Type Yes
Jan 1, 1968 Davis, P.H. [8062] Egypt K000076944 Type Yes
Jan 1, 1957 Davies, P.H. [9398] Jordan K000315654 No
Aitchinson, J.E.T. [177] Pakistan K000342290 Yes
Meyers, F.S.; Dinsmore, J.E. [2062] Jordan K000315574 No
Tackholm, V.; El-Hadidi, M.N.; Lahham, J.; Boulos, L. [9170] Jordan K000315573 Yes
Stoddart, D.R. [4188] Australia K005756041 No
Venezuela K:SPC-65520.000 No
Dalnell [s.n.] K000342291 Yes
Brooker, M.I.H. [2083] Australia K005756042 No
Gilbert, J.L. Egypt K:SPC-03163.000 No

Sources

  • Angiosperm Extinction Risk Predictions v1

    • Angiosperm Threat Predictions
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

  • EBC Common Names

    • Common Names from Kew's Economic Botany Collection https://www.kew.org/science/collections-and-resources/collections/economic-botany-collection

  • Herbarium Catalogue Specimens

    • 'The Herbarium Catalogue, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet http://www.kew.org/herbcat [accessed on Day Month Year]'. Please enter the date on which you consulted the system.
    • Digital Image © Board of Trustees, RBG Kew http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

  • IUCN Categories

    • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0

  • Kew Backbone Distributions

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Living Collection Database

    • Common Names from Kew's Living Collection Database

  • Kew Names and Taxonomic Backbone

    • The International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants 2025. Published on the Internet at http://www.ipni.org and https://powo.science.kew.org/
    • © Copyright 2023 International Plant Names Index and World Checklist of Vascular Plants. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0

  • Kew Science Photographs

    • Copyright applied to individual images

  • Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia

    • http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0