Capparis spinosa, or caper bush, is an useful and beautiful plant in the Caper Family, the Capparidaceae, which also includes Cleome and our native California bladderpod, Isomeris arboreus. The caper bush is a native Mediterranean plant with a natural distribution from coastal regions of the entire Mediterranean Sea basin west to the Canary Islands and Morocco. It is thought however that its ancient habitat was the dry areas of Western or Central Asia. One reason for this speculation is the word "caper" itself, which comes from the Greek kápparis, whose origin is probably the Near or Middle East.