state of Tamil Nadu, Prosopis juliflora has emerged as an invasive species. The plant was first introduced by the British in 1877 as part of an effort to plant it along the arid tracts of Southern India. During the 1960s the state government of Tamil Nadu encouraged the planting of Prosopis juliflora to overcome the shortage of firewood faced by the state at the time, it was also grown as a fence to protect agricultural fields from animals. In 2017, the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court ordered the state government to eradicate the species from the state. In 2022, unsatisfied with the state government, the Madras High Court directed the government to immediately frame a policy to eradicate the plant. The state on 13 July 2022 unveiled a policy to eliminate the invasive species. In Europe, P. juliflora is included since 2019 in the list of Invasive Alien Species of Union concern (the Union list). This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union. Uses The sweet pods are edible and nutritious, and have been a traditional source of food for indigenous peoples in Peru, Chile and California. Pods were once chewed during long journeys to stave off thirst. They can be eaten raw, boiled, dried and ground into flour to make bread, stored underground, or fermented to make a mildly alcoholic beverage. Prior to Spanish colonization, the Guaraní people of South America brewed a beer from mashed Carob pods and wild honey. The species' uses also include forage, wood and environmental management. The plant possesses an unusual amount of the flavanol (-)-mesquitol in its heartwood. In the Macará Canton of Ecuador, P. juliflora can be found in dry forests where it is one of the species most frequently harvested for multiple forest products. References Further reading (1983): Prosopis juliflora DC.. In: Handbook of Energy Crops. Purdue University Center for New Crops & Plant Products. Version of 1998-JAN-08. Retrieved 2008-MAR-19. (2005): Prosopis juliflora. Version 10.01, November 2005. Retrieved 2007-DEC-20. (2007): Uso, manejo y conservacion de "yosú", Stenocereus griseus (Cactaceae) en la Alta Guajira colombiana [Usage, Management and Conservation of yosú, Stenocereus griseus (Cactaceae), in the Upper Guajira, Colombia]. [Spanish with English abstract] Acta Biológica Colombiana 12(1): 99-112. PDF fulltext External links Long-thorn Kiawe Hawaii Invasive Species Council Prosopis juliflora (mesquite) - CABI