''Capparis tomentosa'', the woolly caper bushPooley, E. (1993). ''The Complete Field Guide to Trees of Natal, Zululand and Transkei''. . or African caper, is a plant in the family

Capparaceae The Capparaceae (or Capparidaceae), commonly known as the caper family, are a family of plants in the order Brassicales. As currently circumscribed, the family contains 15 genera and about 430 species. The largest genera are ''Capparis'' (about 1 ...

and is native to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

Distribution

Found in bushveld and forest from the

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

of South Africa, through

KwaZulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It shares bor ...

Limpopo Province Limpopo () is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The term Limpopo is derived from Rivombo (Livombo/Lebombo), a group of Tsonga settlers ...

Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

and into

tropical Africa The Afrotropical realm is one of the Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Sub-Saharan Africa, the southern Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, and the islands of the western Indian Ocean. It was formerly known as the Ethiopi ...

. The northern part of the range extends from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

, and this species is also found in the

Mascarene Islands The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their na ...

Description

Growth form

Mostly a robust woody climber; which in riverine vegetation may grow to the top of the canopy. It may also be a straggling shrub or small tree.Hyde, M.A. & Wursten, B. (2010). ''Flora of Zimbabwe: Species information: Capparis tomentosa''. http://www.zimbabweflora.co.zw/speciesdata/species.php?species_id=124460, retrieved 6 August 2010

Stem

The stem has sharp, paired, hooked spines. Young stems and spines are covered in dense velvety yellow hairs.

Leaves

The leaves form between the spines and are alternate, oblong to broadly elliptic (30-80 × 15–25 mm), greyish-olive green, covered in velvet hairs (or smooth); margins entire, rolled under. The

petiole Petiole may refer to: *Petiole (botany), the stalk of a leaf, attaching the blade to the stem *Petiole (insect anatomy) In entomology, petiole is the technical term for the narrow waist of some hymenopteran insects, especially ants, bees, and ...

is 4–12 mm long and velvety.

Flowers

The flowers form in clusters; terminally on the primary branches or on short leafy lateral branchlets or occasionally scattered in the upper leaf-axils. They are large (35 mm) and scented, with a mass of pinkish-white

stamen The stamen (: stamina or stamens) is a part consisting of the male reproductive organs of a flower. Collectively, the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filament ...

s which are each 20–35 mm in length and may be

crimson Crimson is a rich, deep red color, inclining to purple. It originally meant the color of the kermes dye produced from a scale insect, '' Kermes vermilio'', but the name is now sometimes also used as a generic term for slightly bluish-red col ...

coloured at the base. The

sepals A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 Etymology The term ''sepalum'' ...

are boat shaped and 8–10 mm long. The

petal Petals are modified leaves that form an inner whorl surrounding the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly coloured or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corol ...

s are whitish; 15–25 mm long and 7–10 mm wide.

Fruit

The fruits hang from a long (25–50 mm) stalk-like branch called a

gynophore A gynophore is the stalk of certain flowers which supports the gynoecium (the ovule-producing part of a flower), elevating it above the branching points of other floral parts. Plant genera Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species a ...

. They are up to 40 mm (50 mm) in diameter; shiny green at first, ripening to pink or orange. The fruit contain many seeds embedded in a pinkish flesh. Dried-out, emptied fruit may hang on the plant for some time.

Toxins

Desert sheep,

zebu The zebu (; ''Bos indicus''), also known as indicine cattle and humped cattle, is a species or subspecies of Bos taurus, domestic cattle originating in South Asia. Zebu, like many Sanga cattle breeds, differs from taurine cattle by a fatty hump ...

calves and Nubian goats were fed varying amounts of dry ''Capparis tomentosa'' leaves and died or were killed in extremis at various times after the commencement of dosing.Ahmed O.M., Adam S.E., Edds G.T. ''The toxicity of Capparis tomentosa in sheep and calves''. Vet Hum Toxicol. 1981 Dec;23(6):403-9.Ahmed S.A., Amin A.E., Adam S.E., Hapke H.J. ''By toxic effects of the dried leaves and stem of Capparis tomentosa on Nubian goats''. Dtsch Tierarztl Wochenschr. 1993 May;100(5):192-4. Signs of ''Capparis'' poisoning in the sheep and calves were; weakness of the hind limbs, staggering, swaying, flexion of the

fetlock Fetlock is the common name in horses, large animals, and sometimes dogs for the metacarpophalangeal and metatarsophalangeal joints (MCPJ and MTPJ). Although it somewhat resembles the human ankle in appearance, the joint is homologous to the ...

and phalangeal joints, pain in the sacral region, inappetence and

recumbency Lyingalso called recumbency, prostration, or decubitus in medicine ()is a type of human position in which the body is more or less horizontal and supported along its length by the surface underneath. Lying is the most common position while bein ...

. There was a decrease in the level of total protein and calcium and an increase of glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), ammonia, sodium and potassium in serum. The main pathological changes were

vacuolation A vacuole () is a membrane-bound organelle which is present in plant and fungal cells and some protist, animal, and bacterial cells. Vacuoles are essentially enclosed compartments which are filled with water containing inorganic and organic mo ...

of the

neurons A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

and axons in the

spinal cord The spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular structure made up of nervous tissue that extends from the medulla oblongata in the lower brainstem to the lumbar region of the vertebral column (backbone) of vertebrate animals. The center of the spinal c ...

, with

necrosis Necrosis () is a form of cell injury which results in the premature death of cells in living tissue by autolysis. The term "necrosis" came about in the mid-19th century and is commonly attributed to German pathologist Rudolf Virchow, who i ...

of the centrilobular hepatocytes and renal convoluted tubules and glomeruli. In ''Capparis''-fed goats,

anaemia Anemia (also spelt anaemia in British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen. This can be due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin availab ...

developed and the results of kidney and liver function tests were correlated with clinical abnormalities and pathologic changes. The prominent features of toxicity were inappetence, locomotor disturbances,

paresis In medicine, paresis (), compound word from Greek , (πᾰρᾰ- “beside” + ἵημι “let go, release”), is a condition typified by a weakness of voluntary movement, or by partial loss of voluntary movement or by impaired movement. Whe ...

especially of the hind limbs and recumbency. Lesions comprised perineuronal vacuolation in the gray matter of the spinal cord at the sacral region, centrilobular hepatocellular necrosis, degeneration of the renal proximal convoluted and collecting tubules, serous

atrophy Atrophy is the partial or complete wasting away of a part of the body. Causes of atrophy include mutations (which can destroy the gene to build up the organ), malnutrition, poor nourishment, poor circulatory system, circulation, loss of hormone, ...

of the cardiac fat and renal pelvis and straw-coloured fluid in serious cavities. One goat which was receiving ''Capparis'' stem at 2.5 g/kg on an every other day basis for 8 days, developed signs of toxicosis, but recovered following cessation of plant administration. Isolated compounds were identified in ''Capparis tomentosa'' as 24-ethylcholestan-5-en-3-ol a

phytosterol Phytosterols are phytosteroids, similar to cholesterol, that serve as structural components of biological membranes of plants. They encompass plant sterols and stanol ester, stanols. More than 250 sterols and related compounds have been identified ...

and a

dipeptide A dipeptide is an organic compound derived from two amino acids. The constituent amino acids can be the same or different. When different, two isomers of the dipeptide are possible, depending on the sequence. Several dipeptides are physiological ...

derivative, N-benzoylphenylalanylaninol acetate.Akoto O., Oppong I.V. , Addae-Mensah I. , Waibel R. and Achenbach H. ''Isolation and characterization of dipeptide derivative and phytosterol from Capparis tomentosa Lam.'' Scientific Research and Essays Vol. 3 (8), pp. 355–358, August 2008.

Human uses

This species has traditional medicinal and magical uses in Africa. Among others it is used as a remedy for diarrhea, swelling and water retention. It is a decorative plant in gardens and can be used for hedging; being suitable as a security barrier because of the hooked spines. The fruit may sometimes be eaten by people.

Ecological significance

Several species of butterfly use this plant as a larval food plant, including; ''

Belenois gidica ''Belenois gidica'', the African veined white or pointed caper, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in the Afrotropical realm.Dixeia pigea'', '' Eronia leda'' and '' Colotis evenina''.Williams, M. (1994). ''Butterflies of Southern Africa; A Field Guide''. . Game animals browse the leaves and monkeys and

bushpig :''"Bush pig" may also refer to the red river hog.'' The bushpig (''Potamochoerus larvatus'') is a member of the pig family that inhabits forests, woodland, riverine vegetation and cultivated areas in East and Southern Africa. Probably introd ...

s eat the fruit.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q5036130 tomentosa Fruits originating in Africa Taxa named by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck