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: 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 imbedded.”) Their leaves, small and wax coated, minimize transpiration (evaporation of the plant’s water into the atmosphere). During extreme drought, the mesquites may shed their leaves to further conserve moisture. Their flowers, fragrant and delicate, attract the insects, especially the bees, necessary for prolific pollination. Their seeds, abundant and protectively coated, may last for decades, serving as seed banks that improve the odds for wide distribution and successful germination. Most notably, mesquites’ root systems give the plants a competitive botanical edge in the desert landscape. As hosts to nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they help enrich otherwise impoverished desert soils in which the plants and their progeny grow. In lateral reach, they outcompete other plants in the battle for soil moisture. In their taproots’ downward reach, they find subsurface water, sometimes 150 to perhaps 200 feet below the surface. According to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Internet site, “The mesquite’s root system is the deepest documented;