Page 30 - Edible Trees For Tucson

Mesquite Fabaceae

Prosopis velutina and pubescens

D ESCRIPTI O N

Mesquites are desert-adapted, winter and
drought-deciduous, spiny shrubs or trees; they
may have a single trunk or be multi-stemmed
with a rounded crown of twisting branches. The
tiny leaves are bipinnately compound. The bark
is furrowed and turns dark brown with age. Most
mesquite species have long, stout, sharp spines
that often occur in pairs. The perfect, pale-yellow
flowers bloom on spike-like racemes (like catkins)
from mid-March through May. The leguminous
pods are long, fleshy, tan or mottled with several
small, brown, hard seeds. Mesquite trees grow on
hillsides, open plains, valleys and river bottoms,
and along washes. Mesquite occurs primarily
below 5,500 feet in elevation.

E THN O B O T ANI CAL N O TES

• Mesquite are native to the southwestern U.S.
and northern Mexico.
• Native Americans have long relied on the pods
as a nutritious and important food source.
P L ANTIN G N O TES

• Chill hours: None required.
• Height/Width: 30 feet tall and wide.
• Lifespan: Long-lived
• Water needs: Medium-low water use.
• Soils: The trees grow best in deep floodplain
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