Prosopis glandulosa

Description :

This plant is a shrub or small tree, and it is up to 9 m tall, and the trunk is up to 1 m in diameter. The spines of the plant are axillary and 1 to 5 cm long. Leaves of the plant are bipinnate, glabrous and up to 15 cm long and are in 1 to 2 pairs of pinnae per leaf, up to 15 cm long. Flowers are yellow in color and racemes are 5 to15 cm long. Fruit of the plant is a long, yellowish-brown pod. There are 4 to 20 seeds per pod, seeds 5to 7 mm long. The seeds are eaten by a number of animals.

Distribution :

This plant is native to Southern United States and Northern Mexico. This plant can be found in Punjab and Sindh provinces of Pakistan. They prefer to grow in deserts, plain dry areas, near stream banks and in arroyos.

Uses :

It provides shelter and nest building material for wildlife and produces seed pods in abundance containing beans that are a seasonal food for diverse birds and small mammal species. As, its common name is honey mesquite which means it is a honey plant that supports native pollinator species of bees and other insects and cultivated honeybees.

 

(Geesing et al., 2000)