|Scientific name:||Capparis decidua (Forssk.) Edgew.|
|Synonym name:||Capparis aphylla Roth|
|Common name:||Caper berry, Caper plant, Wild caper|
|Hebrew name:||צלף רותמי|
|Arabic name:||حنبوق , تندب , سوداد|
|Family:||Capparaceae, Caper family, צלפיים|
|Life form:||Many-branched shrub or small tree|
|Stems:||Leafless green crooked spiny branches slender, smooth, terete and spinous; mature branches are leafless as leaves are present only on young shoots; small, sharp, straight, light brown spines occur in pair at each node of twig; most twigs and branches are glossy and dark green in colour, but with age, bark develops which is whitish gray|
|Leaves:||On young branches, caduceus, linear, 1-2 cm long, apex short, stiff, pale mucro like pickle, petioles very short, stipular thorns long, sharp, straight orange yellow|
|Inflorescence:||Corymb with many flowers arising from old branches or from short lateral shoots, in the axils of the spines|
|Flowers:||Red or pink, rarely yellow; Petals: Pink, red-veined, narrow-oblong; Gynophore about 12 mm long; Androecium 8 stamens, inserted at the base of gynophores; Pedicel lender and about 12 mm in length|
|Fruits / pods:||Small, globular, glabrous, fleshy berry, beaked at the apex, resembling a cherry in shape and size; fresh berries are green, which turn pink on ripening and blackish on drying|
|Flowering Period:||May, June, July, August, September, October|
|Distribution:||Judean desert, Dead Sea valley, Negev hills|
Derivation of the botanical name:
Capparis (latin), borrowed from Greek kapparis [κάππαρις], whose origin is unknown but probably West or Central Asia (Alkabara, kabar). Another theory links kapparis to the name of the island Cyprus (Kypros [Κύπρος]), where capers grow abundantly. Arabic kafara, to be hairy, villous.
decidua, deciduus, "falling off at maturity" or "tending to fall off."
aphylla, without leaves.