Ceratonia siliqua L.

Spice Female flower In the field

Family: LEGUMINOSAE

Genus: Ceratonia

Catalan common name: Garrofer. Garrover.

Spanish common name: Algarrobo.

Province distribution: Alacant. Balearic Islands. Barcelona. Castelló. Girona. Tarragona. València.

Distribution in the islands: Mallorca. Menorca. Ibiza. Formentera.

General distribution (Phytogeography): South Mediterranean

Uses and properties: Edible or foodstuffs. Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal. Psycotrophic plant.

IUCN Category: LCLeast concern

Flowering time: JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Life-forms: Macrophanerophyte.

Habitats: Cultivated fields, path and road sides, disturbed zones. Cultivated species. Garden plants. Wild olive trees and other sclerophyllous shrublands. Juniperus phoenicea subsp. turbinata forest. Pine wood and shrubland with rosemary and thyme garigue. Cultivated and naturalizated.

Characteristics: A tree which is very characteristic of the Mediterranean region; it is grown all around for its fruits which are carobs. It produces compound leaves in clumps (up to five) of dark green, ovate, coriaceous leaflets. It flowers at the beginning of autumn forming racemes of flowers on the old branches; the flowers without a corolla are not clearly visible. The trees can be masculine, feminine, or hermaphrodites. The tree, with a large, rounded crown is unmistakable, it can sometimes be found growing sub-spontaneously in garrigues (Mediterranean woodland), but without reaching very large dimensions.