Title: Blue Planet Biomes - Velvet Mesquite
Headings: Velvet Mesquite
Velvet Mesquite
Content: It is a low-branched, broad spreading   thorny shrub or small tree with a well-developed crown. It   can grow as a single-trunked tree about 30 feet tall, and   just as wide, with a two feet diameter trunk. When young   growth is damaged by frost, fire, or browsing, it will   sprout multiple trunks from dormant buds on its stem under   the ground and form a shrub. The bark of velvet   mesquite is reddish-brown and smooth when young. On older   trees the bark becomes gray-brown, rough, thick, and   shredded into long, narrow strips. Young, green branches   grow in a zig-zag pattern and may be photosynthetic. Two   inch-long yellow thorns grow in pairs at the base of each   leaf on the young branches. Leaves grow   alternately on the branch. The leaves themselves   are bipinnate, compound ,   about 3-6 inches long, and pointed. The leaf has   two sets of compound leaves, usually with four   major leaflets and 10-20 narrow minor leaflets 1/3   to 1/2 inch long, which grow opposite each other on   the stem.