Capparis decidua Edgew.

A shrub or tree. It is deciduous. It grows 4 m tall. It is a spiny bush. The spines are in pairs and small and orange-yellow. The trunk is dark and furrowed. The small branches are green and make a dense network. They are often without leaves. The leaves are small and narrow and only on young shoots and fall off quickly. The flowers are brick-red and in clusters. They have long stamens. The flowers have 4 petals and a cup like bonnet. The fruit are the size of a grape. They have a waxy bloom.

It is a tropical plant. It grows best on flat alluvial plains. It is often in wastelands. It can tolerate heat, drought, fire, frost and saline and alkaline soils. It can survive with 100 mm of rain per year. It grows in the Sahel. In Ethiopia it grows from sea level to 1,200 m altitude. It can grow in arid places.

The ripe fruit are eaten raw. The skin is removed. The unripe fruit are dried and used as vegetables or pickled. Flower buds used as potherbs. They are also used in pickles. Floral nectar is also eaten. The roots when burned yield a vegetable salt. The bark is a famine food. The leaves are used as a green vegetable.

It can reproduce from root suckers.