Velvet Mesquite
Neltuma velutina

LANDSCAPE USE
Dense shade tree. Food forest tree (because of edible pods).

GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED

SUN full or even reflected heat, can take part shade while young
WATER low to moderate water, will be smaller in lower water situations, can live on rainfall when established
SOIL native to bosques, but tolerates most soils
HARDINESS hardy to 10°F, may experience tip damage in the low teens
BASIN low to terrace zones
CONTAINER does moderately well in containers but will not reach potential size
NUTRITION moderate
MAINTENANCE prune thorny branches out of walkways

ECOLOGY
Probably the best wildlife species you can plant and considered a “keystone species”. Larval host for the following butterflies:

Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda)

Marine Blue (Leptotes marina)

Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus ssp. gyas)

Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola)

Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii)

Important nectar plant for numerous insects, which in turn attract insectivorous animals. Pods & seeds edible to birds & other animals. Nesting habitat for birds. Because his plant provides food for numerous insects it also attracts the canopy gleaning birds like bell’s vireo, Lucy’s warbler, and the verdin. Host to mistletoe which is important food for phainopepla and a larval food for the great purple hairstreak (Atlides halesus). There are countless organisms associated with this plant, and it’s nearly impossible to expound upon them all.

During the 1880's many velvet mesquite bosques were clearcut to obtain wood for many human purposes, making the bosques extinct in much of our region, while cattle ranching and climate change has increased the presence of mesquite in the grasslands. The water table has decreased greatly during the past century, which has caused many old trees to die. People often blame insects or mistletoe or other reasons for the decline in many of these old trees, but it’s usually caused by the old trees losing the water source they depended on.

ETHNOBOTANY
An important food plant for humans. Of all the mesquites, this is the best tasting: the seedpods with or without seeds are made into flours and meals. Excellent fuel, charcoal, useful for rural posts, wood made into various novelties, cattle eat the plants and pods, an excellent nectar plant for domestic honey bees. During the colonial settlement of southern Arizona, velvet mesquite provided dimension lumber for buildings and bridges, walls for corrals, fence posts, tombstones, and fuel for domestic and industrial uses like mining.

The importance of this food to the Oʼodham people cannot be over-emphasized. It was a staple, and one of the first foods that provided significantly (besides saguaro and cholla) after the long winter season. Before colonization, it was the most important food in this region.

NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
Common along washes, in bottomlands, slopes and mesas from 3,000-5,500’ in California, Arizona, New Mexico and south into northern Mexico.

TAXONOMY AND NAME
Really old people may remember this species referred to as Prosopis juliflora. Most recently known as Prosopis velutina.
This species is in the Fabaceae, the legume family. There are 44 species of Neltuma native to the Americas.
Prosopis was a Greek name for burdock (seemingly a misnomer), while velutina refers to the velvet-like hairs on the leaves. The new genus Neltuma is possibly derived from the common name Mulla Thumma in the Dravidian language Teluga in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where Neltuma juliflora is introduced.