Family: Leguminosae. Genus: Ceratonia. Common name: Carob tree (Garrofer). Uses and properties: Edible or food uses. Furniture, construction and tools. Medicinal plant. Psychotropic plant. Flowering time: February to April. Life forms: Macrophanerophyte (Macrofaneròfit). Habitats: Cultivated fields, roadsides, disturbed places. Cultivated. Garden plants. Ullastrar and other sclerophyllous chaparral, juniper scrub. Pine and chaparral with rosemary and thyme.
Cultivated and naturalised. Features: A very characteristic tree of the Mediterranean region, cultivated everywhere for its carob fruits. It has compound leaves in pairs (up to five) with oval, leathery, dark green leaflets. It flowers in early autumn, forming racemes on old branches; the flowers without corolla are inconspicuous. Trees may be male, female or hermaphroditic. The tree, with its broad, rounded crown, is distinctive and can sometimes be found naturalised in chaparral woodlands without becoming large. Notes: Carob is an edible legume with a sugary and nutritious pulp that has been used for centuries as a select and nutritious fodder for livestock, hacks, rocines, donkeys, mules and men, and in times of scarcity as human food. Ripe carob flour has astringent properties and was a suitable remedy for children when their stomachs were light. Green carob, on the other hand, stimulates the stomach. Carob pulp or flour is an excellent absorber of intestinal toxins, which is why it is a good antidiarrhoeal agent. In ancient times, carob seeds were used to weigh chatons and precious stones, but nowadays they are used to extract carob gum, a vegetable gelling agent. Origin: Eastern Mediterranean. Information taken from the website http://herbarivirtual.uib.es/ i de Pellicer, Joan (2000). Costumari Botànic [2]. Edicions del Bullent. |