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Prosopis (Greek, but the meaning is obscure). Leguminosae. Tender trees and shrubs, including the mesquit and the screw bean, two forage plants of considerable value in the arid regions of southern California and the Southwest.
Stems with or without spines, the spines axillary, solitary or in pairs or only the stipules spinescent: lvs. bipinnate, 1 or 2 pairs of pinnae; lfts. usually numerous, small, entire: fls. small, greenish, in cylindrical or globose axillary spikes: pods linear, coriaceous and indehiscent. — About 25 species, tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
The mesquits are thorny shrubs which ordinarily grow only a few feet high in the desert, but under favorable circumstances make trees 60 feet high. They are also called algaroba and cashaw. The sweetish pods are eaten chiefly by cattle. Seeds and plants are offered in southern California.
P. strombulifera, Benth. (Acacia strombulifera, Willd.), is a shrub 5-8 ft. high, with ash-gray bark, very short spines, lfts. of the pinnae 4-6-paired, linear, and the pod yellowish, about 2 in. long, and spirally twisted. Peru. F. Tracy Hubbard.
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