Caper Bush

Capparis tomentosa (?)

Caper, Capparis sp, Baringo, Kenya, photo © by Michael Plagens

Photographed near Lake Baringo, Kenya. Oct. 2016.

I did not observe any thorns on this example and the leaves are glabrous as opposed to tomentose. The flower petals are pale green-yellow whereas the numerous stamens are long and white. It apperars that this is a variable species and that some of the populations have been given other names such as C. polymorpha. A character I found interesting is how the stamens thicken and curl as the flower senesces. The leaves are highly toxic to goats and as a result this woody plant is sometimes abundant on over-grazed lands.

Caper, Capparis tomentosa or polymorpha, Kenya, photo © by Michael Plagens

Above and below from near Voi, Kenya. May 2017.

Caper, Capparis tomentosa or polymorpha, Kenya, photo © by Michael Plagens

Capparaceae -- Caper Family

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Kenya Natural History

Copyright Michael J. Plagens, page created on 22 Dec. 2016,
updated 19 July 2017.