Plant Name
Scientific Name: Prosopis velutina
Synonyms: Neltuma velutina, Prosopis articulata, P. chilensis var. velutina, P. juliflora
Common Name: Velvet Mesquite
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Perennial, Deciduous
Growth Habit: Tree, Shrub
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert, Upland, Riparian. Velvet Mesquites grow taller in areas with more water, and along washes and rivers, they can form dense, shady riparian woodlands known as mesquite bosques.
Flower Color: Light greenish yellow to pale golden yellow
Flowering Season: Spring, Summer
Height: To 30 feet (9.1 m) tall or more
Description: The flowers are densely clustered on 4 inch (10 cm) long, spike-like racemes. The individual flowers are tiny and have 5 petals. The flowers are followed by flattened, elongated, green drying in to tan, 6 inch (15 cm) long bean pods. The dry, fallen bean pods can become curled after exposure to rain and weather. The bean pods are eaten by desert animals like squirrels, rabbits, rodents, javelina (collared peccaries), coyotes, and deer. The leaves are bipinnately compound with 15 to 30 pairs of green, oblong, secondary leaflets. The foliage is covered in short, fine, velvety hairs. The branches have sharp, woody spines. The bark is dark ashy brown in color and very rough and flaking. Any wounds in the wood will ooze sticky, black sap.
Special Characteristics
Allergenic – The pollen is a moderate allergen.
Culturally Significant Plant – The beans were an important food source for Southwestern Native Americans, and the sap and leaves were used for medicinal purposes.
Edible – The dry, tan-colored bean pods are edible and can be ground into sweet, rich, nutritious mesquite flour. The beans and the fragrant wood can be burned to flavor smoked and barbecued meat. The flowers attract numerous honeybees and are a source for delicious mesquite honey.
If you live here in Arizona, it is well worth it to grow one of these trees in your yard as a source for aromatic firewood (dead or pruned branches) and beans. These trees are messy, drip black sap, and have adventurous roots, so don't grow one where it would hang over a patio or pool.
Fragrant – The flowers have a sweet, honey-like fragrance, and the burning wood is incredibly aromatic with a characteristic smokey mesquite smell.
Legal Status – Protected Native Plant (Salvage Assessed, Harvest Restricted), Federal Noxious Weed. Wild Velvet Mesquites are protected and are not considered to be weeds here in Arizona, but they can be weedy when introduced into other areas where they are not native.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Rosidae
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae – Pea family
Genus: Prosopis L. – mesquite
Species: Prosopis velutina Woot. – velvet mesquite
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