Mesquite

This article is about a tree. For the city in Texas, see Mesquite, Texas. For the city in Nevada, see Mesquite, Nevada. For other uses, see Mesquite (disambiguation).

Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera Neltuma and Strombocarpa, which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these genera were traditionally included in a broad view of the genus Prosopis, but that genus is now restricted to a few species native to the Old World.

Mesquites have extremely long taproots to seek water from very far under ground, making them extremely drought-tolerant. As they are legumes, mesquites are one of the few sources of fixed nitrogen in the desert habitat. Their fruits, known as "mesquite pods", are dry and often sweet, edible for humans and livestock, and served as a staple food for indigenous peoples in the deserts of North America.

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