Description: Small to large evergreen trees, unarmed.
Leaves alternate, paripinnate; pinnae few, broad; stipules small, caducous. Racemes axillary, catkin-like, solitary or clustered, borne on the old wood.
Flowers small, mostly unisexual and plants usually dioecious or sometimes with some bisexual flowers. Sepals caducous, tube discoid. Petals absent. Stamens 5; filaments slender, either short or long in different flowers.
Pod indehiscent, compressed, elongate, inflated, pulpy when immature, leathery at maturity; seeds flat.
Distribution and occurrence: World: 2 species, Mediterranean region, Arabia & Somalia. Australia: 1 species
Widely cultivated in many countries of the world for fodder and for carob.
Text by B. Wiecek Taxon concept:
One species in NSW: Ceratonia siliqua |
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