Capparis fascicularis
Capparis fascicularis, the zigzag caper-bush, is a plant in the Capparaceae family and is native to Africa.
Taxonomy
This species has multiple synonyms. The species is said to comprise three varieties, but four are listed:
- Capparis fascicularis DC. var. fascicularis
- Capparis fascicularis var. zeyheri Toelken
- Capparis fascicularis var. elaeagnoides DeWolf
- Capparis fascicularis var. scheffleri DeWolf
Distribution and habitat
Occurs from the Eastern Cape of South Africa, through KwaZulu-Natal, Eswatini, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. The range extends further to East Africa, Ethiopia, and across northern Nigeria, Niger and the Gambia. This species generally occurs in deciduous bushland and thickets, grassland with scattered trees, upland dry evergreen and riverine forest, and sometimes on termite-mounds. Var. fascicularis is found in dry bushveld or dry deciduous woodland in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Eswatini. Var. zeyheri is found in forest, bushveld and woodland near the coast in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, South Africa. Var. elaeagnoides is found in Zambia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Niger, Nigeria, Mali and the Gambia.
Description
A scrambling shrub or climber, usually with hooked spines on the stem. Two varieties are known in South Africa; var. fascicularis and var. zeyheri. The most notable difference between these two varieties is that var. fascicularis has indented leaf-tips whereas var. zeyheri has pointed leaf-tips. The spines on the coast zigzag caper-bush are usually reduced or absent. The fragrant flowers are whitish and produced on leafless side branchlets which resemble spikes or racemes. The fruit are spherical and 6–15 mm in diameter, ripening to purple-black.Image:African Common White larvae on Capparis fascicularis var Zeyheri 17 09 2010.JPG|thumb|right|220px|Larvae of Belenois creona on leaf of Capparis fascicularis var. ''zeyheri''
The leaves are sold as food in markets of northern Nigeria.
[Image:Two butterflies2 21 09 2010.JPG|thumb|left|220px|Belenois creona (left) and Eronia cleodora (right); raised on C. fascicularis var. zeyheri]Capparis fascicularis is the larval foodplant of the butterflies Belenois creona and Eronia cleodora.