Caper (Capparis spinosa) is a deciduous, shrubby perennial of the family Capparidaceae found in rocky places and waste areas of the Mediterranean region. It has straggly, sometimes spiny stems branching from the base. The leaves are circular to ovate in shape and rather fleshy. The flowers are carried singly in the leaf axils, opening flat with four white or purplish- tinged petals. The fruit is a rounded berry, about two centimetres across, which splits open when ripe to reveal numerous seeds embedded in a sticky mucilage.
Picked and pickled in vinegar and salt the, unopened flower-buds are much used as a condiment (caper-sauce being especially the accompaniment of boiled mutton). The plant was introduced into Britain as early as 1596, but has never been grown on a large scale. The flower-buds of the marsh-marigold (Caltha palustria) and nasturtium are frequently pickled and eaten as a substitute for capers. Research Caper
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Abbreviations
Nature
Research Caper
