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Velvet Mesquite Tree

Velvet Mesquite Tree
Prosopis velutina

Mesquite tree taproots can grow larger around than the tree’s trunk. They have been found as deep as 175 feet digging for a drink, but generally reach approximately 50 feet under the ground, making the roots bigger than the tree itself.

Also known as the Native or Arizona mesquite, these trees can grow up to 30 feet tall, but average between 12 and 15 feet in the Arizona desert. As well as the taproots, the trees grow lateral roots that spread out in the upper soil layers in every direction. They survive the heat so well by sucking the water from the very top and bottom layers of the soil at the same time.

Mesquites are easy to recognize; they look like a giant fern bush. The leaflets of the mesquite grow so small and so close together on the stems it looks like a giant fern. The oblong-shaped leaflets grow in pairs and between 14 and 30 pairs populate each leaf. The tiny fuzzy hairs that cover the leaves feel like velvet; thus the velvet mesquite moniker.

Some mesquites have one trunk, but many that grow in the desert have several. The trunk emerges from the ground and splits. The twigs and branches twist from the trunks and form joints when they branch in new directions, making the mesquite look like it has many bent elbows in its skeleton. This also causes it to have more of a bush than a tree shape.

The white or pale yellow flowers grow in clusters on stems, hanging bushy and long like a cat’s tail. They bloom in early summer and produce fragrant honey nectar that bees and other insects can’t seem to live without. This helps the mesquite because bees and insects are the most important pollinators to them. Although hundreds of flowers may grow in the clusters, only one to a few will develop from each cluster.

Mesquites are members of the legume family, meaning they produce bean pods, and the beans are edible. Many animals, including birds, rodents, livestock and even humans, eat the beans. In the late summer when food is difficult to find, the mesquite bean makes up from 70 and 80 percent of the coyote’s diet. The beans are sweet and nutritious.

Some beetles and weevils lay their eggs on the pods and when the larvae hatches they worm their way into the pod and feed on the fruit.

Mesquite trees make great numbers of these sweet seeds as way of assuring survival. The seed coverings must crack open in order for the seed to grow. This is called scarification. Once cracked and left on the ground, however, they grow swiftly and easily. A seed left undisturbed in its pod can stay viable for up to 40 years.

Animals help to assure survival of the mesquite as well. Many times mesquite seeds will not fully digest when animals eat them, and it takes approximately 2 days to completely go through the animal’s digestive tract. By that time the animal has moved to another location, expanding the territory in which mesquite grow.

Native Americans had many uses for the mesquite. They ate the beans, and used them to make tea, syrup and a ground meal called pinole. The bark was used to make baskets, fabrics and medicine. The sap made black dye and sweet gum. The wood was used for arrowheads and spears, and the thorns made excellent sewing needles.
Today people still eat mesquite beans, but probably the most well known use for the mesquite today is as a smoking wood for flavoring meat at a barbecue.

The mesquite tree grows on sandy or rocky soil along washes, streams and canyons. They often grow in thickets below 5,500 feet and grow across the low, semi-arid and arid deserts of Arizona.

- Robin N. Clayton