Prosopis juliflora
| Prosopis juliflora | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Young tree | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Rosids |
| Order: | Fabales |
| Family: | Fabaceae |
| Subfamily: | Mimosoideae |
| Tribe: | Mimoseae |
| Genus: | Prosopis |
| Species: | P. juliflora |
| Binomial name | |
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Prosopis juliflora (Sw.) DC. |
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| Synonyms | |
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Many, see text |
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Many, see text
Prosopis juliflora (Spanish: bayahonda blanca, Cuji [Venezuela], Aippia [Wayuunaiki] also known as Valiti Keeker in Hindi) is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite. It is native to Mexico, South America and the Caribbean. It has become established as an invasive weed in Africa, Asia, Australia and elsewhere.
The mesquite tree grows to a height of up to 12 metres (39 ft) and has a trunk with a diameter of up to 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). Its leaves are deciduous, bi-pinnate, light green, compounded with 12 to 20 leaflets. Flowers appear shortly after leaf development. The flowers are in 5–10 cm long green-yellow cylindrical spikes, which occur in clusters of 2 to 5 at the ends of branches. Pods are 20 to 30 cm long and contain between 10 and 30 seeds per pod. A mature plant can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds. Seeds remain viable for up to 10 years. The tree reproduces by way of seeds, not vegetatively. Seeds are spread by cattle and other animals that consume the seed pods and spread the seeds in their droppings.
Its roots are able to grow to a great depth in search of water: in 1960, they were discovered at a depth of 53 meters (175 feet) at an open-pit mine near Tucson, Arizona, putting them among the deepest known roots. The tree is said to have been introduced to Sri Lanka in the 19th century, where it is now known as vanni-andara, or katu andara in Sinhala. It is claimed that P. julifllora existed and was recognised even as a holy tree in ancient India, but this is most likely a confusion with Prosopis cineraria. The tree is believed to have existed in the Vanni and Mannar regions for a long time. This species has thorns in pairs at the nodes but thornless internodes. It may also be almost thornless.
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Wikipedia