Ceratonia siliqua – Família: Cesalpiniàcies
General characteristics
It is an evergreen tree, with a rounded cup, very irregular, with a height between 5 and 10 m, and a cup width between 6 and 10 m. The trunk is twisted, the bark smooth, reddish brown in colour. The leaves are composite-bipinnate between 10 and 30 cms. The leaflets make from 2 to 7 cms, and are shinny dark green on the front and average matt green on the back.
It blooms between August and October, with flowers that are 2 mm, unglamorous, rellow or red, arranged in bunches of up to 5 cm; often each sex blooms in separated trees and are generally born directly from the trunk. The fruits, the carob beans, are blackish violet coriaceaus when ripe, and are between 5 and 25 cm long; they ripen every other summer.
Uses
The carob tree is basically cultivated to obtain fruits and seeds.
Carob beans are sweet and caffeine free, without the stimulating effects of the cacao, low in fat and calories. It is used in different ways: the whole fruit is used as animal feed for sheep, goats, pigs, and horses. From the flesh carob flour is obtained, and used as cacao substitute when toasted to make chocolate and cakes. Alcohol, sugar and certain laxatives can also be obtained from it.
Curiosities
The tiny carob beans, due to their stable weight, in former times were used as a measurement unit (1 gram being equal to 5 seeds). The word karat comes from its greek name – keration –, which was used to weight jewels. Nowadays the measurement is done in a virtual way, and 1 carot equals 0’2 grams, which is the standard weight of a carob seed.
Carob tree at the “Bassa del Rejolar” (brick and tile factory pool)
This carob tree has a natural shape, although partially pruned. It only has one trunk, but at 2,10 metres above ground it branches out into two quite wide branches; of 1,50 metres (the one facing East) and of 1,71 metres (the one facing West). Its bark is well preserved too.
CONDITION: INJURIES: All from pruning, some are very important and old, like the branching out ones. SHADING: Yes, by the calvary cypresses. Observations: it seems that the emptying of the trunk has occurred due to the pruning of a wide branch that was coming out from the branching in the direction towards the calvary.
ASSOCIATED LIFE: FUNGUS: It has fungus the size of the palm of one’s hand, almost touching the ground, dark brown, similar to the ones that appear on poplar trunks. HEMIPARASITES: It has abundant green lichen and less grey lichen. FAUNA (heard): birds.
ENVIRONMENT:
- NATURAL: permeable and natural ground. Surrounded by low indigenous vegetation: wild asparragus plant, carob shoots, kermes oak, wild olive trees…
- ANTHROPIC (man-made): It is near the calvary wall.
Carob tree | |
Trunk perimetre at 1.30 m | 2,23 m. |
Height | _____ m. |
Cup width | 14,70 m. |
On foot Access from parking:
Location:
GPS parking location:
X, Y: 38.91445, -0.19279
GPS tree location:
X, Y: 38.91299, -0.19212
The site is only accesible till the entrance of the calvary.
As it is an uneven and cobbled path, it is difficult for people with impaired mobility.