Ceratonia siliqua L.
An evergreen dioecious or hermaphrodite tree to 10 m tall. Leaves coriaceous, paripinnate, with 3 to 8 pairs of obovate to ovate-elliptical, wavy-edged leaflets from 4 to 5 cm long. Flowers about 4 mm across, without petals, greenish-red, in short racemes from 5 to 10 cm long, arising straight from the trunk and branches. Fruit pods 10 to 25 cm long and about 2 cm broad, flattened and usually curved. These pods have sweet, fleshy walls which are edible. They are used in fruit juices and fermented drinks, and also as a substitute for coffee. They are also used as animal fodder. The seeds were originally used as a unit of weight - the carat.
Local:Used to be a predominant tree of the Upper Rock but is not common nowadays, large numbers having been felled for fuel during the Great Siege. Only a number of isolated trees are now found scattered around the Rock.
Global: Found in the Mediterranean region and in south and central Portugal.
Flowers between September and October (November).
A tree of the maquis.