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Taxon:  Ceratonia siliqua L.



Summary
Genus:
Ceratonia
Family:
Fabaceae (alt. Leguminosae)
Subfamily:
Caesalpinioideae
Tribe:
Caesalpinieae
Nomen number:
9918
Place of publication:
Sp. pl. 2:1026. 1753
Verified:
02/16/1988 ARS Systematic Botanists.
Accessions:
4 (3  active, 0  available) in Australian Pastures Genebank.  (Map it)
Other conspecific taxa
Autonyms (not in current use), synonyms and invalid designations
No images


Reference(s)
  1. Aldén, B., S. Ryman & M. Hjertson. Våra kulturväxters namn - ursprung och användning. Formas, Stockholm (Handbook on Swedish cultivated and utility plants, their names and origin). 2009
  2. Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
  3. Davis, P. H., ed. Flora of Turkey and the east Aegean islands. 1965-1988
  4. Duke, J. A. et al. CRC Handbook of medicinal herbs. 2002
  5. Duke, J. A. Handbook of legumes of world economic importance. 1981
  6. Eriksson, O. et al. Flora of Macaronesia: checklist of vascular plants, ed. 2. 1979
  7. Euro+Med Editorial Committee. Euro+Med Plantbase: the information resource for Euro-Mediterranean plant diversity (on-line resource).
  8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). 2010. Ecocrop (on-line resource).
  9. Groth, D. 2005. pers. comm.
  10. Hackett, C. & J. Carolane. Edible Horticultural Crops. 1982
  11. Idrissi, M. M. El et al. 1996. Characterization of rhizobia isolated from Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua). J. Appl. Bacteriol. 80:165-173.
  12. Isely, D. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25(2):134.
  13. Izquierdo Z., I. et al., eds. Lista de especies silvestres de Canarias: hongos, plantas y animales terrestres. 2004
  14. Jahandiez, E. & R. Maire. Catalogue des plantes du Maroc. 1931-1941
  15. Kartesz, J. T. A synonymized checklist of the vascular flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. 1994
  16. Komarov, V. L. et al., eds. Flora SSSR. 1934-1964
  17. Kunkel, G. Plants for human consumption. 1984
  18. Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996 123.
  19. Liberty Hyde Bailey Hortorium. Hortus third. 1976
  20. Mabberley, D. J. The plant-book: a portable dictionary of the vascular plants, ed. 2. 1997
  21. Magness, J. R. et al. Food and feed crops of the United States. IR Bull. 1. 1971
  22. Markle, G. M. et al., eds. Food and feed crops of the United States, ed. 2. 1998
  23. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  24. McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
  25. Meikle, R. D. Flora of Cyprus. 1977-1985
  26. Mouterde, P. Nouvelle flore du Liban et de la Syrie. 1966-
  27. National Academy of Sciences. Tropical legumes: resources for the future. 1979
  28. Naudin, C. 1897. Nouvelles recherches sur les tubercules et les nodosités des légumineuses et sur leurs rapports avec ces plantes. J. Agric. Prat. 61(1):807-811.
  29. Pignatti, S. Flora d'Italia. 1982
  30. Porcher, M. H. et al. Searchable World Wide Web Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) (on-line resource).
  31. Pottier-Alapetite, G. Flore de la Tunisie: Angiospermes-Dicotyledones. 1979-1981
  32. Quézel, P. & S. Santa. Nouvelle flore de l'Algerie. 1962-1963
  33. Rechinger, K. H., ed. Flora iranica. 1963-
  34. Rehm, S. Multilingual dictionary of agronomic plants. 1994
  35. Smythies, B. E. Flora of Spain and the Balearic Islands: checklist of vascular plants. Englera 3:1-882. 1984-1986
  36. Tutin, T. G. et al., eds. Flora europaea. 1964-1980
  37. Wiersema, J. H. & B. León. World economic plants: a standard reference (on-line edition) [medicinal plants only].
  38. Wood, J. R. I. A handbook of the flora of Yemen. 1997
  39. Zohary, M. & N. Feinbrun-Dothan. Flora palaestina. 1966-
Common names
English
carob –
locust-bean –
St. John's-bread –
French
caroube –
caroubier –
German
Johannisbrotbraum –
Portuguese
alfarrobeira –
Spanish
algarrobo –
caroba –
Swedish
johannesbröd –
Distribution
order_codeStatusContinentSubcontinentCountryStateNote
1NativeAfricaMacaronesiaSpainCanary Islands 
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaAlgeria  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaLibya  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaMorocco  
1NativeAfricaNorthern AfricaTunisia  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaCyprus  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaIsrael  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaLebanon  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaSyria  
1NativeAsia-TemperateWestern AsiaTurkey  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeAlbania  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeFormer Yugoslavia  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeGreece  
1NativeEuropeSoutheastern EuropeItaly  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeFrance  
1NativeEuropeSouthwestern EuropeSpain  
2Cultivated     
4Naturalized     
6Other     
Native
Africa
  • MACARONESIA: Spain [Canary Islands]
  • NORTHERN AFRICA: Algeria, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia
Asia-Temperate
  • WESTERN ASIA: Cyprus, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey
Europe
  • SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE: Former Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Italy
  • SOUTHWESTERN EUROPE: Spain, France
Cultivated ()
Naturalized ()
Other ()
Economic Uses
UsageTypeNoteReference
Animal foodfodder Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Environmentalornamental Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Environmentalshade/shelter Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Food additivesflavoring Leung, A. Y. & S. Foster. Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics, ed. 2. 1996 123.
Food additivessweetener Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Food additivesthickening agent Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Fuelscharcoal Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Fuelsfuelwood Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Human foodbeverage base Hackett, C. & J. Carolane. Edible Horticultural Crops. 1982
Materialsalcohol Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Materialsgum/resin Batlle, I. & J. Tous. 1997. Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua L. Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops. 1996- 17:1-92.
Medicinesfolklore McGuffin, M., J. T. Kartesz, A. Y. Leung, & A. O. Tucker. Herbs of commerce, ed. 2. 2000
Cite as: USDA, Agricultural Research Service, National Plant Germplasm System. 2025. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN Taxonomy). National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
URL: https://apg.pir.sa.gov.au/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=9918. Accessed 19 July 2025.


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