IDENTIFICATION

It is a robust tree (up to 10 m high) with irregular trunk and cork, a thin but knotty cork of a brown greyish colour. Its root system is extended and deep. The leaves are rounded or oval, with full edges. They are evergreen and dark green coloured. Its leaves are composed of several leaflets or flakes born from a single yolk. The flakes are arranged facing two in two, reaching up to five pairs (paripinnate). The flowers are of small size, little showy but with a strong smell. They are born in bunches, grouped in inflorescences directly to the trunk or in lateral branches and of a brownish or reddish colour. The fruits have a dry legume shape and are known as carob. They are of a little curved shape, like a horn; they grow up to 25 cm and shelter about 10 to 16 seeds inside.

WHERE DOES IT LIVE?

This species is able to bear very dry environmental conditions. It grows in areas with a dry, soft and warm climate, without frost and near the coast (up to 600 meters above sea level).  It does not usually form forests, but it can be found in stands accompanied by palmettos, mastic trees and kermes oaks. It is indifferent to the type of substrate (basic or acid grounds), but it needs sunny places. It does not care about rocky grounds nor ravines with arid slopes.

HOW DOES IT LIVE?

The root system of the carob tree has a pivoting, deep and vigorous main root and numerous crawling lateral roots that extend up to 30 or 40 meters. This is an adaptation to dryness that enables them to take the humidity and elements needed for its nutrition in a big tract of land. Inflorescences are born in the branches knots from July to December. Pollination can be anemophilous (because of the wind) and entomophil (made by insects) and occurs between September and October. The carobs first grow green, between February and ending May or in the early days of June, a period when they reach their maximum size. In July, its green colour turns dark brown to reach ripeness in September. 

WHERE CAN WE SEE IT IN MÁLAGA?

In the Malaga province, it can be found in a very dispersed way but it is widely extended all over the coastal area. At a high altitude, it also appears only if there is no frost. It can be observed in almost all stages of the Great Path (Gran Senda).

CURIOUS FACTS

In addition to its ornamental value, this tree has a great ethnological value, as it has always been associated with the Malaga farming lands. It not only provides shade and wood but also improves and enriches the soil, helping to stabilize the slopes with its roots. But it most of all stands out for its fruit, which has been contributing to feed the livestock since ancient times. A flour is obtained from the carob that has also been used in human food shortage periods. Nowadays, it is still used in several industrial applications, like for example ice creams stabilisation.

SIMILAR SPECIES

It is an unmistakable species due to its shape, its leaves and above all for its fruit.