Prosopis velutina Anza-Borrego.jpg
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''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family
Fabaceae The Fabaceae or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomenc ...
. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and
shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...
s found in
subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...
and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion developing extremely deep root systems. Their wood is usually hard, dense and durable. Their fruits are
pod Pod or POD may refer to: Biology * Pod (fruit), a type of fruit of a flowering plant * Husk or pod of a legume * Pod of whales or other marine mammals * "-pod", a suffix meaning "foot" used in taxonomy Electronics and computing * Proper ort ...
s and may contain large amounts of
sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...
. The generic name means "
burdock ''Arctium'' is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide. Burdock's clinging properties, in addition to providing an excellent mecha ...
" in late Latin and originated in the Greek language.


Selected species

* Mesquites ( southern United States, Mexico) ** '' Prosopis glandulosa'' Torr. – honey mesquite; ''Haas'' ( Cmiique Iitom) ** '' Prosopis laevigata'' (
Humb. Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...
& Bonpl. ex
Willd. Carl Ludwig Willdenow (22 August 1765 – 10 July 1812) was a German botanist, pharmacist, and plant taxonomist. He is considered one of the founders of phytogeography, the study of the geographic distribution of plants. Willdenow was also ...
) M.C.Johnst.
– smooth mesquite ** ''
Prosopis pubescens ''Prosopis pubescens'', commonly known as screwbean mesquite, is a species of flowering shrub or small tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the southwestern United States (Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, California, southern Nevad ...
''
Benth. George Bentham (22 September 1800 – 10 September 1884) was an English botanist, described by the weed botanist Duane Isely as "the premier systematic botanist of the nineteenth century". Born into a distinguished family, he initially studie ...
– screwbean mesquite ** ''
Prosopis reptans ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ...
'' Benth. – tornillo ** '' Prosopis velutina'' Wooton – velvet mesquite *"Algarrobos", bayahondas etc. ( Neotropics, particularly the Gran Chaco) ** ''
Prosopis abbreviata ''Prosopis abbreviata'', commonly known as the algarrobillo espinoso, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is endemic to Argentina. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat los ...
'' Benth. – algarrobillo espinoso ** ''
Prosopis affinis ''Prosopis affinis'' is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae, that is native to Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. Common names include algarrobillo, espinillo, ibopé-morotí, and ñandubay. It is threatened by habitat loss ...
''
Spreng. Kurt Polycarp Joachim Sprengel (3 August 1766 – 15 March 1833) was a German botanist and physician who published an influential multivolume history of medicine, ''Versuch einer pragmatischen Geschichte der Arzneikunde'' (1792–99 in four vo ...
– nandubay, algarrobillo, espinillo, Ibopé-morotí ** ''
Prosopis alba ''Prosopis alba'' is a South American tree species that grows in central Argentina, the Gran Chaco ecoregion, and part of the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Argentine Mesopotamia, as well as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. It is known as ''algarrobo blanc ...
''
Griseb. August Heinrich Rudolf Grisebach () was a German botany, botanist and phytogeography, phytogeographer. He was born in Hannover on 17 April 1814 and died in Göttingen on 9 May 1879. Biography Grisebach studied at the Lyceum in Hanover, the clo ...
– algarrobo blanco; ''ibopé'' or ''igopé'' ( Guaraní) ** '' Prosopis caldenia'' Burkart – caldén ** ''
Prosopis chilensis ''Prosopis chilensis'' is a species of tree in the genus ''Prosopis'', belonging to the family Fabaceae. It is found in parts of central Chile, southern Peru, Bolivia, and Andean (northwestern) Argentina. Its common names include Chilean mesqui ...
'' ( Molina) Stuntz – algarrobo Chileno, algarrobo blanco ** '' Prosopis fiebrigii'' Harms ** ''
Prosopis flexuosa ''Prosopis flexuosa'', commonly known as tortuous mesquite and a variety of Spanish vernacular names including ''algarrobo dulce'' and ''algarrobo negro'', is a species of flowering tree in the genus '' Prosopis'' of the family Fabaceae. It is fo ...
''
DC. Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...
– alpataco, algarrobo negro ** '' Prosopis hassleri'' Harms ** '' Prosopis juliflora'' (
Sw. Olof Peter Swartz (21 September 1760 – 19 September 1818) was a Swedish botanist and taxonomist. He is best known for his taxonomic work and studies into pteridophytes. Biography Olof Swartz attended the University of Uppsala where he st ...
) DC.
– bayahonda blanca, bayarone Français; ''kabuli kikar, vilayati babul, vilayati khejra'' or ''vilayati kikar'' ( Hindi); ''trupillo'' or ''turpío'' (
Wayuunaiki Wayuu ( guc, Wayuunaiki ), or Guajiro, is a major Arawakan language spoken by 305,000 indigenous Wayuu people in northwestern Venezuela and northeastern Colombia on the Guajira Peninsula. There are 200,000 speakers of Wayuu in Venezuela and 1 ...
) ** '' Prosopis kuntzei'' Harms ex Kuntze – itín, barba de tigre, carandá, palo mataco ** '' Prosopis nigra'' (Griseb.)
Hieron. Georg Hans Emmo Wolfgang Hieronymus (1846–1921) was a European botanist of German extraction. He was born in Silesia and died in Berlin. He began his career as a medical student in Zürich and Bern from 1868 to 1870, but became interested in b ...
– algarrobo negro, algarrobo amarillo, algarrobo dulce, algarrobo morado ** '' Prosopis pallida'' (Humb. & Bonpl. ex Willd.) Kunth – American carob, ''huarango, kiawe'' ( Hawaiian) ** ''
Prosopis rojasiana ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ari ...
'' Burkart ** '' Prosopis ruscifolia'' Griseb. – vinal ** ''
Prosopis strombulifera ''Prosopis strombulifera'' is a species of mesquite or '' algarrobo'', a shrub in the legume family. It is known by the English common names Argentine screwbean and creeping screwbean and the Spanish common name ''retortuño''. ...
'' ( Lam.) Benth. – creeping mesquite, Argentine screwbean ** ''
Prosopis tamarugo ''Prosopis tamarugo'', commonly known as the tamarugo, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae, subfamilia Mimosoideae. It is only found in northern Chile, particularly in the Pampa del Tamarugal, some east of the city of I ...
''
Phil. Rodolfo Amando (or Rudolph Amandus) Philippi (14 September 1808 – 23 July 1904) was a German–Chilean paleontologist and zoologist. Philippi contributed primarily to malacology and paleontology. His grandson, Rodulfo Amando Philippi Bañados ( ...
– tamarugo *African species ** ''
Prosopis africana ''Prosopis africana'' is a flowering plant species in the genus Fabaceae. It is found in Africa. Its common names include African mesquite, iron tree, ''gele'' (Malinke) (traditional djembe wood) or ''somb'' tree. In the Serer creation myth, i ...
'' ( Guill. & Perr.) Taub. – ''gele'' ( Malinke, traditional ''djembe'' wood) *Asian species ( India, mainly Rajasthan,
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
to the
Arabian Peninsula The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
) ** '' Prosopis cineraria'' ( L.) Druce – jand; ''ghaf'' ( Arabic); ''sami'' or ''sumri'' (
Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...
); ''khejri'', ''sangri'' (
Rajasthani Rajasthani may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Rajasthan, a state of India * Rajasthani languages, a group of languages spoken there * Rajasthani people, the native inhabitants of the region * Rajasthani architecture * Rajasthani art ...
); ''kandi'' ( Sindhi) ** ''
Prosopis farcta ''Prosopis farcta'', the Syrian mesquite, is a species of the genus Prosopis, growing in and around the Middle East. Botanical details ''Prosopis farcta'' is a below-ground tree. Above ground, it looks like a shrub with a height of 20–100&nb ...
'' ( Sol. ex Russell) J.F.Macbr. ** ''
Prosopis koelziana ''Prosopis koelziana'' is a species of plant in the genus ''Prosopis ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the ...
'' Burkart ( Iran) ** ''
Prosopis spicigera ''Prosopis cineraria'', also known as ghaf, is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. It is native to arid portions of Western Asia and the Indian Subcontinent, including Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iran, India, Oman, Pakistan, Saud ...
'' ( L.)


Formerly placed here

*''
Acacia atramentaria ''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus nam ...
'' Benth. (as ''P. astringens'' Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) *''
Elephantorrhiza elephantina ''Elephantorrhiza elephantina'', commonly known as the eland's wattle or elephant's root, is a subshrub in the mimosoid clade of legumes. They occur widely and in several bioregions of southern Africa. Considerable size variation has been noted, ...
'' (Burch.) Skeels (as ''P. elephantina'' (Burch.) E.Mey. or ''P. elephantorrhiza'' Spreng.) *''
Prosopidastrum globosum ''Prosopidastrum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It belongs to the mimosoid clade of the subfamily Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae ...
'' (Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.) Burkart (as ''P. globosa'' Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.)


Taxonomic reclassification

Genomic research published in 2022 concludes that species grouped under the genus ''Prosopis'' actually represent multiple genera including ''
Anonychium ''Anonychium'' is a genus of plant in the pea family (Fabaceae). It includes a single species, ''Anonychium africanum'', a tree native to northern Sub-saharan Africa from Mauritania to Uganda and to Saudi Arabia. It is known by the synonym ''Pro ...
'', '' Neltuma'', ''Prosopis'', and ''
Strombocarpa ''Prosopis'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in ari ...
''.


Phytochemistry

''Prosopis'' species have been found to contain
5-hydroxytryptamine Serotonin () or 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Its biological function is complex and multifaceted, modulating mood, cognition, reward, learning, memory, and numerous physiological processes such as vomiting and vas ...
, apigenin, isorhamnetin-3-diglucoside,
l-arabinose Arabinose is an aldopentose – a monosaccharide containing five carbon atoms, and including an aldehyde (CHO) functional group. For biosynthetic reasons, most saccharides are almost always more abundant in nature as the "D"-form, or structural ...
, quercetin, tannin, and tryptamine.Medicinal Plants of the Southwest
The tannins present in ''Prosopis'' species are of the pyrogallotannin and pyrocatecollic types. The tannins are mainly found in the bark and wood while their concentration in the pods is low. Some species, such as '' P. africana'' or '' P. velutina'', produce a
gum Gum may refer to: Types of gum * Adhesive * Bubble gum * Chewing gum * Gum (botany), sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom ** Gum arabic, made from the sap of ''Acacia senegal'', an Old World tree s ...
(mesquite gum).


As an introduced and invasive species

The species '' Prosopis pallida'' was introduced to Hawaii in 1828 and now dominates many of the drier coastal parts of the islands, where it is called the kiawe tree and is a prime source of monofloral honey production. In Australia, invasive ''Prosopis'' species are causing severe economic and environmental damage. With their thorns and many low branches, ''Prosopis'' shrubs form impenetrable thickets which prevent cattle from accessing watering holes, etc. They also take over pastoral grasslands and suck up scarce water. ''Prosopis'' species cause land erosion due to loss of grassland that are habitats for native plants and animals. ''Prosopis'' thickets also provide shelter for feral animals such as pigs and cats. For more information on invasiveness of mesquite species, see '' Prosopis glandulosa'' and '' Prosopis juliflora''.


Eradication

Eradicating ''Prosopis'' is difficult because the plant's bud regeneration zone can extend down to below ground level;Mesquite Info
/ref>
/ref> the tree can regenerate from a piece of root left in the soil. Some
herbicides Herbicides (, ), also commonly known as weedkillers, are substances used to control undesired plants, also known as weeds.EPA. February 201Pesticides Industry. Sales and Usage 2006 and 2007: Market Estimates. Summary in press releasMain page fo ...
are not effective or only partially effective against mesquite. Spray techniques for removal, while effective against short-term regrowth, are expensive, costing more than $70/acre ($170/hectare) in the USA. Removing large trees requires tracked equipment; costs can approach $2,000 per acre. In Australia, several techniques are used to remove ''Prosopis''.


See also

* Invasive species in Australia


References


Notes


General references

*Paciecznik, N. M., Harris P. J. C., & S. J. Smith. 2003
Identifying Tropical Prosopis Species: A Field Guide
HDRA, Coventry, UK. .

(FAO Document Repository)

(website of the Vascular Plant Herbarium of the University of Arizona in Tucson)
Plant Walk 2 UofA


External links

* *
U.S. Federal Noxious Weed List (USDA)The Prosopis Website (Has a nice range map)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q133422 Forages Medicinal plants Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Fabaceae genera