Title: Mesquite Tree - Prosopis pubescens, Prosopis velutina, Prosopis glandulosa - DesertUSA
Headings: Mesquite Tree
Mesquite Tree
Prosopis pubescens, Prosopis velutina, Prosopis glandulosa
Mesquite Beans
Getting Acquainted with Mesquite
Adaptations to the Desert Environment
Range
Mesquites as Botanical Enemies
Mesquites as Botanical Friends
Something that Belongs
The Desert Environment
The North American Deserts
Desert Geological Terms

Content: Mesquites, requiring little water and only low maintenance, have found a place in Southwest xeriscaped gardens and parks. They not only produce beans and blooms that attract wildlife, they provide perches and nesting sites for birds, including hummingbirds. In the frontier days, according to Dobie, mesquites were used by the Indians and the settlers as a source of many remedies for a host of ailments. Indians and settlers believed tea made from the mesquite root or bark cured diarrhea. Boiled mesquite roots yielded a soothing balm that cured colic and healed flesh wounds. Mesquite leaves, crushed and mixed with water and urine, cured headaches. Mesquite gum preparations soothed ailing eyes, eased a sore throat, cleared up dysentery and relieved headaches. (Note: Medical studies of mesquite and other desert foods say that despite its sweetness, mesquite flour (made by grinding whole pods) "is extremely effective in controlling blood sugar levels" in people with diabetes. The sweetness comes from fructose, which the body can process without insulin.