Close-ups of Maltese nature (11)

The spineless caper is known in Maltese as Il-kappara. The immature flower buds of this bush, known as capers, have been used in Mediterranean cuisine for centuries. Customarily, these buds are pickled in vinegar or preserved in granular salt and used to add aroma to pasta sauces, pizza and other such dishes.

In Malta, the spineless caper is a very common bush which, although grows mainly on cliffs, walls and fortifications, it is also found in garrigue and maquis areas.

The spineless caper is a perennial shrub which is either decumbent – reclining on the ground but having ascending ends, or pendulous – hanging downwards, and may grow up to more than three metres in length.

Its flowers are slightly asymmetrical and have delicate, cream white petals and lively purple stamina. These flowers, which give off a delicate sweet aroma, blossom in the summer months, when they open at dawn and close late in the afternoon. Its dark green leaves, arranged on long thick stalks, are semi-succulent, rounded or somewhat ovate in shape. This shrub produces a very deep root system – an adaptive feature for growing in dry areas.

The spineless caper, or capparis orientalis, is an important species for our natural surroundings and economy. Its vegetation cover, for example, protects soils from water loss and can protect against soil erosion. Thus, we should truly appreciate both the beauty and the utility of this species.

Should you require more information, please contact nature.requests@mepa.org.mt.

The United Nations declared 2010 to be the International Year of Biodiversity. Malta, together with many other countries around the globe, is carrying out a number of initiatives to celebrate life on earth and the value of biodiversity for our lives. We are all invited to take action in 2010 to safeguard the variety of life on earth: Biodiversity