Title: Mesquite - description, history, use and benefits
Headings: MESQUITE

Content: Mesquites have
lateral roots that extend far beyond the canopies
of the plants and taproots that penetrate well
below the surface of the soil. Some mesquites
may live for more than two centuries, according
to Thomas B. Wilson, Robert H. Webb and
Thomas L. Thompson, U. S. Department of
Agriculture, Forest Service, General Technical
Report RMRS-GTR-8. The Honey Mesquite, distinguished by
smooth-surfaced leaflets, makes its primary
home in the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the
Continental Divide, although its outer range
extends across the Sonoran Desert as well. The closely related Velvet Mesquite, marked
by velvet-surfaced leaflets, has as its primary
residence the Sonoran Desert, west of the
Continental Divide. The Screwbean
Mesquite, identified by its tightly spiraled
bean pods, has established as its basic
range the northern Sonoran Desert up into
the Mojave Desert. Where distributions of
the species overlap, the plants hybridize,
often making identification difficult, according
to Wilson and his co-authors. From crown to root tips, the
mesquites have evolved a number
of adaptations especially designed
to help assure survival in the desert
environment. Their thorns, sharply
pointed and strong, challenge
browsing by desert herbivores. (“They will not decay in the flesh or
gristle as will prickly pear thorns,”
Dobie said, “but will last longer than
any flesh in which they become
embedded.”) Their leaves, small
and wax coated, minimize
transpiration (evaporation of the
plant’s water into the atmosphere).