562 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



numerous kinds of novelties. Spindles for grills and stairways do not 

 suffer in comparison with black walnut, mahogany, cherry, and teak. 

 The wood is porous, annual rings narrow and indistinct, and the medul- 

 lary rays thin and inconspicuous. 



A variety (Prosopis juliflora glandulosa) is found from Kansas to 

 eastern Texas, and also in Arizona and California. It is the common 

 mesquite of eastern Texas. Another variety (Prosopis juliflora velutina) 

 occurs in some of the hot valleys of southern Arizona and southward in 

 Mexico. 



SCREWBEAN (Prosopis odorata) is known also as screwpod mesquite, and tornillo. 

 The name is due to the pod's habit of growing in spiral form, there being a dozen or 

 more tight twists. The flowers appear in early spring and new crops follow until 

 summer. The pods ripen early in autumn or late in summer, and many become in- 

 fested with grubs. The tree is from twenty-five to thirty feet high, and a foot or less 

 in diameter. Its range extends from western Texas and Utah and Nevada through 

 New Mexico and Arizona to southern California. The wood is stronger and stiffer 

 than common mesquite, but a little lighter. Its uses are much the same, and it has 

 the same habits of growth, including its disposition to develop enormous roots. The 

 name might lead to the conclusion that the flower is rich in perfume, but such is not 

 the case. The tree grows slowly and lives to old age, if it escapes fire and other 

 accidents. 



CHALKY LEUC^NA (Leucana pulverulenla), commonly called mimosa, occurs 

 in the United States only in southern Texas, but is somewhat abundant in Mexico, 

 where trees sixty feet high and nearly two feet in diameter are sometimes manu- 

 factured into lumber. Along the Rio Grande it is called "tepeguaja" by Mexicans. 

 This name is said to be equivalent to "hardwood," which is an appropriate name. 

 It is very smooth and handsome when finished, and is used for tool handles, small 

 spindles, grills, and other small articles, particularly products of the lathe. In color 

 it resembles the lighter shades of mahogany; weighs about forty-two pounds per cubic 

 foot ; foliage extremely delicate and the tree is highly valuable for ornamental pur- 

 poses. It has been planted outside of its natural range. The pods sometimes 

 exceed a foot in length. 



LEuC-iENA (Leucana glauca) is small and probably will never be of much 

 importance. Trunks are seldom more than five inches in diameter and twenty feet 

 high. The tree grows in canyons and ravines in western Texas. The compound 

 leaves are six or seven inches long, with thirty or less pairs of leaflets; fruit is a pod 

 six or eight inches long. The rich brown wood is streaked with red. 



