Ceratonia siliqua

The carob tree is a flowering tree or shrub in the pea or Fabaceae family and is native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. It is widely cultivated for its edible pods. It grows up to 13 m tall.

• Crown is broad and semi-spherical, with an often multi-stemmed thick trunk with rough brown bark and sturdy branches.
• Leaves are evergreen, alternate, pinnately compound, 10–20 cm long, with 3–7 leaflets, sometimes with a terminal leaflet; leaflets are 3-7 cm long, ovate to elliptic, normally in 4–10 opposite pairs, dark green and shiny above, pale green below and finely veined with margins slightly undulate, and tiny stipules.
• Flowers are usually dioecious, although some are hermaphroditic; they are produced in the fall and are green-tinted red, small and numerous, 6–12 mm long, spirally arranged along the inflorescence axis in catkin-like racemes 2–6 cm long, developing on spurs from old wood and even on the trunk.
• The fruit is a legume 10–30 cm long, 1.5–3.5 cm wide, brown, and elongated, compressed, straight, or curved, and thickened at the sutures, with a wrinkled surface and leathery when ripe in fall.
• The ripe, dried, and sometimes toasted pod can be ground into carob powder, which is sometimes used to replace cocoa powder. Carob bars (an alternative to chocolate bars), as well as carob chips (an alternative to chocolate chips), and carob treats are often available in health food stores.