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

Content: They may have
single or multiple-branched stems, with each
plant assuming its own distinctive shape. They
come armed with thorns on the smaller
branches. They shed their leaves in the winter. They bloom from spring into summer, bearing
small frothy-looking clusters – called “catkins” –
of tiny, five-petal, pale green or yellowish
flowers, which lure numerous pollinating
insects. They produce pods that contain hard
and long-lasting seeds that must be scarified
before they will germinate. 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.