Western Honey Mesquite
Neltuma odorata
NOTE: Mesquites native to the Americas have gone through a bit name change and that may freak some people out. This plant was formerly known as Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana.
Family: Fabaceae
OTHER NAMES
Tohono O’odham: kui
Spanish: mezquite, algarroba
CHARACTERISTICS
This deciduous, thorny tree usually only gets about 20’ or so tall, but can get taller in well-irrigated conditions. It will often be somewhat wider than tall. By comparison to the other variety of Prosopis glandulosa this variety has smaller leaflets, and is usually a much smaller tree or even just a shrub. In the spring, summer and after rains it is covered with fragrant white flowers, and the long bean pods. Before the introduction of livestock by European settlers, the geographic ranges of North American mesquites were probably more distinct. Since livestock effectively disperse the seeds, mesquites have increased their abundance across the Southwest since settlement times, and many species' ranges have changed—so this variety of mesquite is probably an integration with velvet mesquite (Neltuma velutina) and the wild populations close to that species are often hybrid integrations.
Photo by Tony Rebelo, iNaturalist
Neltuma odorata (as Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana) on SEINET
LANDSCAPE USE
Medium sized landscape shade tree.
GROWING CONDITIONS
AN EXPLANAITION OF TERMS USED
SUN full sun
WATER low to moderate water, can live on rainfall when established but will be stunted
SOIL native to bosques, but tolerates most soils
HARDINESS hardy to well below 0°F, but may experience tip damage in the low teens to single digits
BASIN low to terrace zones
CONTAINER does ok in a container but will not reach full size
NUTRITION low to moderate
MAINTENANCE prune thorny branches out of walkways
ECOLOGY
Habitat for nesting birds. Seeds feed granivorous birds and mammals. Flowers important for many species of native bees and other insects. Birds and other animals depend on this species for the insects that they attract. Larval host for the following butterflies:
Leda Ministreak (Ministrymon leda)
Ceraunus Blue (Hemiargus ceraunus ssp. gyas)
Reakirt's Blue (Echinargus isola)
Palmer's Metalmark (Apodemia palmerii)
ETHNOBOTANY
Like other mesquites, this species is used as a food plant, for construction, and is used in a multitude of other ways.
NATURAL DISTRIBUTION
This variety is the one that occurs within Arizona (from California to western Texas and south into northern Mexico). It hybridizes with Prosopis velutina where they converge.
TAXONOMY AND NAME
This species is in the Fabaceae, the legume family. There are 46 accepted species in the genus Prosopis.
Prosopis was a Greek name for burdock (seemingly a misnomer), while glandulosa refers to the glands found near the leaflets. Torreyana honors John Torrey (August 15, 1796 – March 10, 1873) was an American botanist, chemist, and physician. The new species, odorata, means fragrant.
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.