Plant · P-521

Carob

Ceratonia siliqua

Carob is an evergreen Mediterranean tree grown for its pods, whose sweet pulp is eaten green or dried and ground into a chocolate substitute for baking and drinks, while the seed yields a high-protein flour, an edible thickening gum and a coffee substitute. It is usually dioecious, so a single seedling has a real chance of never bearing - plant a group, graft a known female, or choose a self-fertile variety. Despite being a legume it does not fix nitrogen: recent genetic work shows the genes nodulation depends on have been lost.