Honey Mesquite
Author: Ray Bowers

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Species: Prosopis glandulosa

Description:
Honey mesquite is a spiny shrub or small tree that grows to 4 m (13 ft) tall. The alternate pinnately compound leaves are 6 to 18 cm (2.4 to 7.1 in) long, with eight to fourteen oval leaflets. The leaves are deciduous, meaning they fall during the winter or extremely dry conditions. The 0.6 to 2.5 cm (0.25 to 1 in) spines are also alternate on the branches. The roots have been reported to be up to 18.3 m (60 ft) in length.

Geographic range:
Honey mesquite is found from southeastern California east to central Texas, and south into Mexico.

Habitat:
Honey mesquite is found in short grasslands and deserts on sandy slopes, plains, dunes, and arroyos. It grows from 305 to 1,677 m ( 1,000 to 5,500 ft ) in elevation.

Reproduction and Development:
Honey mesquite is a monoecious plant that blooms from May to August depending on the rainfall. The flowers are densely packed on a 5 to 7.5 cm (2 to 3 in) long cylinder shape stalk called a spike. The fragrant flowers are pollinated by a variety of insects. The flowers have yellow petals, and ten stamens. The fruit is a 9 to 20 cm (3.5 to 8 in) long pale yellow narrow pod. The bean-shaped pods are slightly flattened with wavy margins, and mature in the summer.

• Honey mesquite fruit have been used by the Native Americans for years, so much so that they have been given different names to seed pods at different stages of ripening.
  
• The pods and seeds are dried and ground into flour. The leaves and flowers can be brewed into a medicinal tea. The gum also has medicinal and pigmenting uses when dissolved in water. The hard wood is also used for heating and cooking as well as for wooden tools and utensils.
  
• Honey mesquite distribution is also closely related to grazing and in some cases overgrazing. The seeds from the eaten seedpods are passed through the digestive tract and deposited with a rich supply of nutrients as the animal grazes. It is said that the Camino Real can be identified by the presence of mesquite. The presence of large numbers of Calvary horses and cattle in the late 1800's also increased the presence of mesquite.

References:
Allred, Kelly W. 2000. A Field Guide to the Flora of the Jornada Plain. Las Cruces: NMSU Department of Animal and Range Science.

Bowers, Janice E. 1993. Shrubs and Trees of the Southwest Desert. Tucson, AZ: Southwest Parks and Monuments Association.

Carter, jack L. 1997. Trees and Shrubs of New Mexico. Silver City, NM: Mimbres Publishing.

Kearney , Thomas H. and Robert H. Peebles. 1951. Arizona Flora. Berkeley, California: University of California Press.

MacMahon, James A. 1987. Deserts. New York: Alfred A. Knoph, Inc.

Moore, Michael. 1989. Medicinal Plants of the Desert and Canyon West. Santa Fe, New Mexico: Museum of New Mexico Press.

Wooton, E.O. and Paul C. Standley. 1915. Flora of New Mexico. Contributions from the United States National Herbarium, Vol 19. Washington: Government Printing Office.

Related Terms: Magnoliophyta, Magnoliopsida