Mesquite
Mesquite is the common name for the genus Prosopis and there are over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to the southwestern United States and Mexico (except for creeping mesquite, which is invasive in southern California). The mesquite originates from the Tamaulipan mezquital ecoregion, in the deserts and xeric shrublands biome, located in the southern United States and northeastern Mexico. It covers an area of 141,500 km2 (54,600 sq mi), encompassing a portion of the Gulf Coastal Plain in southern Texas, northern Tamaulipas, northeastern Coahuila, and part of Nuevo León. As a legume, it is one of the few sources of fixed nitrogen in the desert habitat.
Screwbean pods.
Screwbean flowers
Honey mesquite, foliage with seedpods
Velvet mesquite dried seeds
Velvet mesquite tree
Honey mesquite foliage
This tree blooms from spring to summer. It often produces fruits known as "pods". Prosopis spp are able to grow up to 8 m tall, with regards to site and climate. It is deciduous and depending on location and rainfall can have either deep or shallow roots. Prosopis spp is considered long-lived because of the low mortality rate after the dicotyledonous stage and juveniles are also able to survive in conditions with low light and drought. The Cahuilla indigenous people of western North America were known to eat the seeds of mesquite.
Prosopis spp has been in North America since the Pliocene era and its wood is dated 3300 yr BP. It is thought to have evolved with megafauna in the New World. The loss of North American megafauna at the end of the Pleistocene era gave way to one theory of how the Prosopis spp was able to survive. The loss of the megafauna allowed Prosopis spp to potentially able to utilize its fruit pods to attract other organisms to spread its seeds. Then with the introduction of livestock it was able to spread into grasslands. Another theory is that Prosopis spp was always present in grasslands but reoccurring fires postponed plant and seed development. Then with the emergence of livestock and grazing the seeds were able to increase and develop.
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