Prosopis juliflora (, Aippia Wayuunaiki and long-thorn kiawe in Hawaii) 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. It is a contributing factor to continuing transmission of malaria, especially during dry periods when sugar sources from native plants are largely unavailable to mosquitoes. Description Growing to a height of up to , P. juliflora has a trunk diameter of up to . Its leaves are deciduous, geminate-pinnate, light green, with 12 to 20 leaflets. Flowers appear shortly after leaf development. The flowers are in long green-yellow cylindrical spikes, which occur in clusters of 2 to 5 at the ends of branches. Pods are 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 solely by way of seeds, not vegetatively. Seeds are spread by cattle and other animals, which 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 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. juliflora existed and was recognised even as a holy tree in ancient India, but this is most likely a confusion with P. 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. The species has variable thorniness, with nearly thornless individuals appearing occasionally. In the western extent of its range in Ecuador and Peru, P. juliflora readily hybridises with P. pallida and can be difficult to distinguish from this similar species or their interspecific hybrid strains. Nomenclature Vernacular names Prosopis juliflora has a wide range of vernacular names, although no widely used English one except for mesquite, which is used for several species of Prosopis. It is called bayahonda blanca in Spanish, bayarone Français in French, and bayawonn in Creole. Other similar names