Roger's Tree Pick: Carob

Looking for an evergreen tree, drought tolerant when established, with which you can grow a substitute for chocolate?

The tree that fits this bill is the carob or St. John Bread tree. Ceratonia siliqua, one of the two species from the Arabian Peninsula extending into Somalia, can be used out in a dry xeriscape landscape you might be creating.

The tree is medium-sized and grows up to 40 feet with a rounded broad evergreen canopy. It has been used for centuries for its value of food and forage, which was recognized by the ancient Greeks.

The seed pods contain more sugar than sugar beets or sugar cane. The seeds and the pulp of its pods are reportedly the “locusts and wild honey” eaten by John the Baptist in the desert, giving origin to one of its common names. It is also said the fat content is lower than cacao used to make traditional chocolate. The pods are milled into a fine powder and sold in health food stores where you also can find carob-bars tasting like chocolate.

In ancient times, the carob seed inside the bean was used to measure the worth of gemstones and gold since the seeds have a general uniform weight. This is where the word “karat” comes from.

Today the carob is used extensively in reforestation efforts around the world because of its hardiness and ability to grow readily in regions receiving as little as 12 inches of precipitation per year.

With age, the trunks of the tree can become really gnarly-looking, like century-old olive trees which have a lot of character themselves in a California landscape.

Spanish missionaries introduced the carob into Mexico and then Southern California and eventually throughout the missions that were been established in the 1800s.

The heartwood is hard, close-grained, and prized for turnery and cabinet woodwork by wood craftsmen and artisans.

Roger Boddaert is a certified arborist by the International Society of Arborists and can be reached at (760) 728-4297.

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