The Thorny Caper Weed Now In Bloom Leads To An Interesting Discovery!

The thorny caper, which generally grows as a weed here in Israel, has such a lovely exotic flower, that one can't help but notice it! I've seen this "weed" growing all over the place, and have always thought that it was much too lovely for something that can be a bit obnoxious. And as you'll see from all the photos that follow in this post, I was atually quite captivated by its beauty earilier this week. The funny thing is that I had no idea what this plant actually was called, and had no success in my google search, until I remembered that I have seen the same plant growing form the crevices in the kotel, the wailing wall, and voila, a name for this little plant was discovered. And, I have to say, was so surprised that this is in fact the plant on which capers grow, wow, I had always wondered about that, and whaddya know……there are even capers in my photos!

I also discovered that the sages compared the Jewish people to the caper bush, any guesses why?

The sages compared the Jewish people to the caper for their ability to survive even after being cut down to the roots, and to thrive in the most inhospitable conditions. And that my friends is why you'll see this little bush growing from cracks in sidewalks, cracks in bulldings and such.

See those capers, lower left hand corner? When it comes to capers, apparently small is best, as the bigger capers are bitter. The caper plant has prickly thorns, and the buds must be picked quickly before they open. Like olives, capers cannot be eaten fresh. They must be pickled in brine, usually of vinegar, salt, and peppercorns. That said, I may just take a liittle walk today or tomorrow and try to score some capers……pickling is anyway up my alley, so I'd love to give it a try!

Fun information right? Now the next time you see capers in your local store, or a caper bush growing from an old building in the mediterranean region, you'll know how it grows and what it is!

Plant identification is something I really enjoy, especially here in the holy soil of Israel as all the native plants have deep history and meaning, gotta love it!

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