is broad and semispherical, supported by a thick trunk with rough brown bark and sturdy branches. Its leaves are 10 to 20 cm long, alternate, pinnate, and may or may not have a terminal leaflet. It is frost-tolerant to roughly -7 °C.

Most carob trees are dioecious, so strictly male trees do not produce fruit, but some are hermaphroditic. When the trees blossom in autumn, the flowers are small and numerous, spirally arranged