Title: Blue Planet Biomes - Velvet Mesquite
Headings: Velvet Mesquite
Velvet Mesquite
Content: Blue Planet Biomes - Velvet Mesquite
Velvet Mesquite
Common Names: Common Mesquite, Arizona Mesquite
Genus: Prosopis
Species: velutina
Velvet   mesquite is one of the most common, and important   plants of the southwestern deserts of the North   American continent. It is useful to humans and   essential to the survival of wildlife in the   desert. Birds, insects, and mammals eat the beans,   seek shelter under its canopy, and benefit from the   leaf litter and nutrient rich soil under the   tree. It grows at   elevations below 4,000 to 5,000 feet in desert   washes and grasslands. It is the dominant tree   species along streams and river beds. There the   velvet mesquite forms dense thickets and woodlands,   or bosques, from the Spanish word   for forests. Velvet mesquite ranges from central and southern   Arizona, extreme southwestern New Mexico, and adjacent   northern Mexico.