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Further complementary studies involving re- production biology characteristics (Caruso et al ., 2008), chemical attributes (Dakia et al ., 2007) and genetic analysis (La Malfa et al ., 2014) are necessary to investigate the perfor- mance and real value of this heritage, prior to conserving and utilizing the germplasm in pre-breeding and breeding programs. Acknowledgments  This is a CNRS funded project Ref. 020516 and a LIAO-LiFE contribution num- ber SA 35-2018. The authors are grateful to Ms Maysaa Housein, Mr Mahmoud Hariss, and Mr Mohamad Dawach from the Leba- nese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI) for participating to the sampling process. Literature Cited Abi Saleh, B., N. Nasser, R. Hanna, N. Safi, S. Safi, and H. Tohme. 1996. Lebanon Country Study on Biological Diversity. Terrestrial Flora. Republic of Lebanon, Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and Unit- ed Nations Development Programme. Lebanon, 3. Abou Nasser, A. 1963. Le caroubier et ses variétés au Liban (in arabic). Beirut National Press: 92. Albanell, E., G. Caja, and R. Casanova. 1988. Car- acterísticas físicas y contenido en endospermo de semillas españolas de algarrobo ( Ceratonia siliqua L.).  Proc. of the II International Carob Symposium (P. Fito and A. Mulet, eds.). Valencia, Spain : 558- 566. Albanell, E., G. Caja, and J. Plaixats. 1996. Character- ization of carob fruits ( Ceratonia siliqua L.), culti- vated in Spain for agroindustrial use. International Tree Crops J. 9(1):1-9. Barracosa, P., M.B. Lima, and A. Cravador. 2008. Analysis of genetic diversity in Portuguese Cera- tonia siliqua L. cultivars using RAPD and AFLP markers. Sci. Hort. 118(3):189-199. Barracosa, P., J. Osorio, andA. Cravador. 2007. Evalu- ation of fruit and seed diversity and characterization of carob ( Ceratonia siliqua L.) cultivars in Algarve region. Sci. Hort. 114(4):250-257. Batlle, I. and J. Tous. 1997. The carob ( Ceratonia siliqua L.). Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected Crops. 17. Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research, Gatersle- ben/IPGRI, Rome, Italy. Breugel, P.V. and J. Stephan. 1999. Carob distribution in Lebanon. FAO-IHEAM Nucis Newsletter 8: 30. Caja, G., E. Albanell and R. Casanova. 1988. Carac-

Tunisia and Moroccan germplasms (Albanell et al ., 1996; Naghmouchi et al ., 2009; Sidina et al ., 2009).  Data from morphological studies were used to evaluate correlations between mor- phological characteristics (Albanell et al ., 1988 and 1996; Caja et al ., 1988). In this study, pod size and weight were negatively correlated with seed yield (r=-0.427 and -0.564, respectively), confirming previous reports (Albanell et al ., 1996; Sidina et al., 2009). The heaviest seed was the longest and widest, and seed weight ranged between 0.15 g and 0.30 g with a mean of 0.22 g. Pod length and total seed weight were previously found to be positively correlated (r= 0.567) (Albanell et al ., 1996; Sidina et al ., 2009).  In our study, seed length, chord length and pod width were positively correlated with the longitude (r=0.606, 0.323, 0.308, respec- tively; Table 5), whereas pod weight was slightly correlated with latitude and longi- tude. Surprisingly, pod size and weight were negatively correlated with the rainfall, indi- cating an unusual behavior of the Lebanese carobs to precipitation. For the Moroccan carob germplasm, significant positive and negative correlations were reported for pod thickness and pulp weight with the latitude and altitude respectively, allowing identifica- tion of different geographic patterns of carob in Morocco (Sidina et al ., 2009). Hierarchi- cal clustering analysis revealed an important diversity among the studied carob trees, with a differentiation of the trees of the South and the ones of Mount Lebanon which could correspond to two potential eco-geographic groups. On the other hand, carob trees of Bei- rut and the North were the most difficult to classify, being spread over the four clusters. Conclusion  Using a set of morphological traits, the present work is the first morphometric as- sessment of the Lebanese ancient carob germplasm. Although preliminary, the results of this study identified the diversity potential of the Lebanese ancient carob germplasm.