Carob Tree

Description:

Ceratonia siliqua, commonly known as the Carob tree and St John's-bread, is a species of flowering evergreen shrub or tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is widely cultivated for its edible legumes, and as an ornamental tree in gardens. The tree grows up to 10 metres tall. The crown is broad and semi-spherical, supported by a thick trunk with brown rough bark and sturdy branches. Leaves are 10 to 20 centimetres long, alternate, pinnate, and may or may not have a terminal leaflet. It is frost-tolerant. The flowers are small and numerous, spirally arranged along the inflorescence axis in catkin-like racemes borne on spurs from old wood and even on the trunk (cauliflory); they are pollinated by both wind and insects. Male flowers produce a characteristic odour, resembling semen.(wiki)

Habitat:

A rare plant in Sinai, only seen in the wadi gardens in St. Katherine's Protectorate where two different varieties grow.