Mesquite Trees

There are three popular species of Mesquite found in the desert Southwest, Honey Mesquite, Screwbean "Tornillo" Mesquite and Velvet Mesquite.

Some are only small shrubs while others can grow up to 30 feet high.

All are very heat and drought tolerant and require little or no extra watering, after becoming established.

They have lots of thorns and fussy yellow catkins in the spring, followed by long slender seed pods. The Screwbean Mesquite or Tornillo has very interesting seed pods, see bottom photo.

Honey made from Mesquite flowers is really tasty and great for persons with allergies.

Mesquite is a hardwood and is widely used in bar-be-queing, as fuel wood and for fence posts.

Great tree for the desert Southwest landscape, but it is a bit messy when the seedpods drop to the ground.

Interesting fact: When you are flying into El Paso, Texas, and as your plane gets lower, you notice lots of bumps on the ground, these are mounds of Mesquite.

The desert winds blow the sand up around the plant and the Mesquite bush and the mound gets bigger and bigger, so from the air, they look like tons of bumps!