The f>od-bearerS 



The Mesquite, or Honey Pod (Prosopts juUflora, DC.) is one 

 of the wonderful plants of the arid and semi-arid regions. It is 

 found as a tree 60 feet high along the rivers of southern Arizona. 

 It ranges from Texas to southern California, and north to Colo- 

 rado and Utah. In arid situations it becomes a low shmb, often 

 with little to show above ground. But the roots develop to 

 amazing size. There is a central tap root that goes in search 

 of water, sometimes 60 feet below the surface. Secondary roots 

 go out in all directions, and form a labyrinth of woody substance, 

 which in quantity furnishes the treeless region with building and 

 fencing material and good fuel. Oxen drag the mesquite out 

 by the roots, and it is cut into posts, railroad ties and frames for 

 the adobe houses. 



The leaves are like those of our honey locust, but much 

 reduced in size. The tree furnishes little shade. But young 

 shoots, leaves and the greenish, fragrant flowers which come in 

 successive crops from May to July, are all cropped eagerly by 

 cattle. So are the long, slim, sweet pods which are also used as 

 food by Indians and Mexicans. The sharp, spiny branches of 

 this shrub make it a good hedge plant, and the complex root 

 system makes it invaluable for the holding of sand dunes. Alto- 

 gether the mesquite is one of the most useful trees in the silva 

 of this country. Aborigines in the American desert might well 

 worship it as the Hindoos do a related species. 



The Screw Bean, or Screw-pod Mesquite (Prosopts 

 puhescens, Benth.), with hoary foliage, grows in the same region, 

 and differs from the true mesquite chiefly in having its pods 

 spirally twisted. 



346 



