Capparis tomentosaLam.

African caper

WFO wfo-0000585223 Accepted WFO 2026-06 8 photographs CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA

Plate 1 figs. a–h · 8 separate observations

Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Mahomed Desai
fig. a Mahomed Desai, CC BY 4.0 / 2021-08-04 / obs. 148697456
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. b Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 140600262
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. c Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 126760428
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Andrew Deacon
fig. d Andrew Deacon, CC0 1.0 / obs. 103564025
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Shaun Swanepoel
fig. e Shaun Swanepoel, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 64245883
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Tony Rebelo
fig. f Tony Rebelo, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 63463845
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Robert Taylor
fig. g Robert Taylor, CC BY 4.0 / obs. 22564096
Capparis tomentosa, photographed by Antoinette Eyssell Knox
fig. h Antoinette Eyssell Knox, CC BY-SA 4.0 / obs. 15555786

Every figure is a research-grade observation under CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA, rehosted with the photographer’s name, the licence and the observation it came from. Photographs under a NonCommercial licence are excluded from this site and are never stored, which costs us a great many pictures and is not negotiable.

Native range 41 botanical countries

Regions where Capparis tomentosa is native: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Provinces, Caprivi Strip, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Gulf of Guinea Is., Ivory Coast, Kenya, KwaZulu-Natal, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Provinces, Rwanda, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan-South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, Yemen AngolaBeninBotswanaBurkinaBurundiCameroonCape ProvincesCaprivi StripCentral African RepublicChadDR CongoEritreaEswatiniEthiopiaGabonGambiaGhanaGuineaGulf of Guinea Is.Ivory CoastKenyaKwaZulu-NatalMalawiMaliMauritaniaMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaNorthern ProvincesRwandaSenegalSomaliaSudan-South SudanTanzaniaUgandaZambiaZimbabweSaudi ArabiaYemen Mauritius
Native distribution of Capparis tomentosa, after Kew’s World Checklist of Vascular Plants. Introduced, extinct and doubtful records are excluded, so this is where the plant is from, not everywhere it now grows. Regions too small to draw at this scale are marked with a dot.
RegionTDWG codeContinent
Angola ANG AFRICA
Benin BEN
Botswana BOT
Burkina BKN
Burundi BUR
Cameroon CMN
Cape Provinces CPP
Caprivi Strip CPV
Central African Republic CAF
Chad CHA
DR Congo ZAI
Eritrea ERI
Eswatini SWZ
Ethiopia ETH
Gabon GAB
Gambia GAM
Ghana GHA
Guinea GUI
Gulf of Guinea Is. GGI
Ivory Coast IVO
Kenya KEN
KwaZulu-Natal NAT
Malawi MLW
Mali MLI
Mauritania MTN
Mauritius MAU
Mozambique MOZ
Namibia NAM
Niger NGR
Nigeria NGA
Northern Provinces TVL
Rwanda RWA
Senegal SEN
Somalia SOM
Sudan-South Sudan SUD
Tanzania TAN
Uganda UGA
Zambia ZAM
Zimbabwe ZIM
Saudi Arabia SAU ASIA-TEMPERATE
Yemen YEM

Region boundaries approximated from Natural Earth (public domain) and mapped to TDWG World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions (WGSRPD) level-3 botanical countries (Brummitt 2001). Indicative, not the official WGSRPD geometry.

Also published as 15 synonyms

A synonym is not an error. It is a record of botanists disagreeing, in print, about where this plant belongs. Each of these was somebody’s considered answer.

  • Capparis alexandrae Chiov.
  • Capparis biloba Hutch. & Dalziel
  • Capparis corymbifera E.Mey. ex Sond.
  • Capparis corymbifera E.Mey. ex Harv. & Sond.
  • Capparis floribunda Lepr. ex Walp.
  • Capparis globifera Delile
  • Capparis hypericoides Hochst.
  • Capparis lucens Hauman
  • Capparis persicifolia A.Rich.
  • Capparis polymorpha A.Rich.
  • Capparis puberula DC.
  • Capparis subtomentosa De Wild.
  • Capparis tomentosa var. persicifolia (A.Rich.) Penz.
  • Capparis verdickii De Wild.
  • Capparis volkensii Gilg

Sourcesevery claim on this page

  1. World Flora Online Plant List. accepted name, authority, classification. CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-12.
  2. iNaturalist. photographs and flowering annotations, CC0 / CC BY / CC BY-SA only. per photograph. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
  3. Wikidata. common name (P1843), joined on the World Flora Online identifier (P7715). CC0. Retrieved 2026-07-13.
  4. Kew, World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP v16). native distribution by TDWG level-3 botanical country, and life form. CC BY 3.0. Retrieved 2026-06-04.

We publish what we can source and we say so when we cannot. This page has no care advice and no toxicity claim, because we do not yet have those from a source we can cite.