Ceratonia

Ceratonia /ˌsɛrəˈtniə/[1] is small genus of flowering trees in the pea family, Fabaceae, endemic to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Its best known member, the carob tree, is cultivated for its pods and has been widely introduced to regions with similar climates. The genus was long considered monotypic, but a second species, Ceratonia oreothauma, was identified in 1979 from Oman and Somalia.[2] It is in the tribe Umitzieae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae.

Ceratonia
Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Ceratonia
L.
Species

Selected species

An obsolete name for Ceratonia was Acalis.

Fossil record

Ceratonia emarginata fossils are known from the Miocene of Switzerland and Hungary.[3]

References

  1. Sunset Western Garden Book, 1995:606–607
  2. Hillcoat, D.; Lewis, G.; Verdcourt, B. (1980). "A New Species of Ceratonia (Leguminosae-Caesalpinioideae) from Arabia and the Somali Republic". Kew Bulletin. 35 (2): 261–271. doi:10.2307/4114570. JSTOR 4114570.
  3. Leguminosae species from the territory of Abkhazia by Alexandra K. Shakryl, Advances in Legume Systematics: Part 4, The Fossil Record, Ed. P.S. Herendeen & Dilcher, 1992, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, ISBN 0 947643 40 0

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