''Mariosousa heterophylla'', also called the palo blanco tree (which is also applied to ''
Ipomoea arborescens''),
palo liso, guinola,
and Willard acacia, is a normally
evergreen
In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, whic ...
mimosoid
The Mimosoideae are a traditional subfamily of trees, herbs, lianas, and shrubs in the pea family (Fabaceae) that mostly grow in tropical and subtropical climates. They are typically characterized by having radially symmetric flowers, with petals ...
plant in the genus ''
Mariosousa
''Mariosousa'' is a genus of 13 species of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Members of this genus were formerly considered to belong to the genus ''Acacia''.
Restricte ...
'' native to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. The Spanish common name translates into 'white stick', defining its peeling white bark. A compound called
willardiine, that acts as an
agonist in
glutamate receptor
Receptor may refer to:
* Sensory receptor, in physiology, any structure which, on receiving environmental stimuli, produces an informative nerve impulse
*Receptor (biochemistry), in biochemistry, a protein molecule that receives and responds to a ...
s, can be isolated from ''M. heterophylla''.
Description
It can grow 10–20 ft or more with a spread of to the height. It is a very slender tree with few branches as well as
leaves. The petiolar-rachis is characteristically long and functions as a
cladophyll. it has a white or yellow-colored peeling off bark. The leaves have 5–6 leaflets in the end. It may drop leaves in autumn and winter. The flowers are like
catkins, rod or bottle-brush-like, white or light yellow in color. The
pods are multichambered, and 3–4 in long specimens.
The flowers occur in pale yellow spikes.
Distribution and habitat
The plant is endemic to Sonora (
Sonoran desert
The Sonoran Desert ( es, Desierto de Sonora) is a desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States (in Ariz ...
),
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. It prefers rocky bajdas,
slope
In mathematics, the slope or gradient of a line is a number that describes both the ''direction'' and the ''steepness'' of the line. Slope is often denoted by the letter ''m''; there is no clear answer to the question why the letter ''m'' is use ...
s and
arroyos from 0 to 2,000 feet
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...
.
It is a popular ornamental tree in arid areas, especially in the southwestern U.S.
References
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4671022
Flora of Mexico
heterophylla
Flora of the Sonoran Deserts
Plants described in 1890