Ceratonia siliqua

Overview

The museum account describes a thick trunk, rough reddish-brown bark and a broad crown. Dark oval leaflets form persistent pinnate leaves. Small flowers lack petals and occur in catkin-like racemes on branches; thick, slightly curved pods turn from green to dark brown. The Flora of Zimbabwe diagnosis specifies paripinnate leaves with 2–8 leaflet pairs, without a terminal leaflet.

Pods reach 10–30 centimetres and contain sugary pulp around hard, flattened seeds. The museum associates carob with warm, relatively arid places and records shade planting, food processing and seed-gum industries. These uses are historical and botanical context rather than treatment advice.

NParks places the species in Fabaceae and records insect pollination, terrestrial growth and drought tolerance. A legume family assignment is distinct from a resolved evolutionary tree. The illustration selects mature fruiting foliage, so it does not invent a flower's sex or show every reproductive stage.

Origins & earliest records

Museum botany and a government horticultural account describe identity, fruits and habitat.

Evidence & interpretation

Retained institutional diagnoses distinguish pod form from ecological and cultivated-use observations.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

1. 01

   Carob tree

   Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle

2. 02

   Ceratonia siliqua

   National Parks Board

3. 03

   Ceratonia siliqua

   Hyde, Wursten, Ballings and Coates Palgrave · 2026

Family, evolution & connections

Taxonomic classification

A hierarchy of classified groups, not a chain of direct ancestors.

Source note: Family placement follows NParks; no species-level phylogeny is asserted.

1. KingdomPlantae
2. FamilyFabaceae

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

1. Museum botanical accountBotanical diagnosisResearch access: 2026-10-11
2. Government botanical accountFlora and Fauna WebResearch access: 2026-10-11
3. Flora accountCultivated species diagnosisResearch access: 2026-10-11

Image credits

AI botanical illustration of carob foliage and thick brown pods.

AI interpretation: mature fruiting carob; landscape imagined.