Velvet Mesquite
Prosopis velutina
Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson
For centuries the mesquite provided native peoples with food, fuel, shelter, weapons, tools, fiber, dye, and medicine. Mesquite trees are deciduous; they leaf out in spring once frost is well past. It is a legume adapted to a dry desert climate.
Source: One Hundred Desert Wildflowers of the Southwest by Janice Emily Bowers
Native Americans ground the seed pods with a stone pestle into coarse meal. The resulting flour was rich in protein and made into dry cakes. If you are lucky, you will see a bedrock mortar - the round depression where the seeds were ground, on some Southwestern hikes.
Prosopis velutina
Santa Catalina Mountains, Tucson
For centuries the mesquite provided native peoples with food, fuel, shelter, weapons, tools, fiber, dye, and medicine. Mesquite trees are deciduous; they leaf out in spring once frost is well past. It is a legume adapted to a dry desert climate.
Source: One Hundred Desert Wildflowers of the Southwest by Janice Emily Bowers
Native Americans ground the seed pods with a stone pestle into coarse meal. The resulting flour was rich in protein and made into dry cakes. If you are lucky, you will see a bedrock mortar - the round depression where the seeds were ground, on some Southwestern hikes.