IMPORTANT WESTERN BROWSE PLANTS 79 
called catclaw and cat’s claw and, by Mexicans, gatufio and ufia de 
ato. 
At least three shrubby mimosas are common and abundant on 
many southwestern ranges. All are species of warm, dry, gravelly, 
or rocky sites in canyons and foothills, between approximate ele- 
vations of 3,000 and 6,000 feet, from western Texas to southern Ari- 
zona and south into Mexico (except that Mimosa fragrans has not 
as yet been collected in Arizona or Mexico and may not occur there), 
and all have some range significance. 
Catelaw mimosa (J/. biuncifera), often called wait-a-minute bush 
or paired-thorn mimosa, is a loose thorny bush, 1 to 3 feet or occa- 
sionally as much as 6% feet high. The species is so common and 
abundant as to derive value from sheer quantity; its palatability is 
seriously impaired by its dense prickliness (especially below), and 
its accessibility by its tangled form of growth. However, it is some- 
times ranked as fairly good feed, the younger and less prickly 
growth being taken, and in winter and spring (and during summer 
and fall also in periods of prolonged drought) it 1s an important 
cattle browse in southern Arizona and New Mexico. Despite the 
frequent spininess of those parts, livestock often devour the pods. 
Velvetpod mimosa (M. dysocarpa) has relatively rather large 
leaves and densely velvety woolly pods; often only the season’s 
growth has thorns. Asa rule this species is held to be fair cattle and 
horse feed, and is sometimes of considerable importance, although 
neither the foliage nor pods equal those of biwneifera or fragrans in 
palatability. It is grazed by cattle for a brief season during dry 
periods, especially in the spring months when grass is scarce or 
wanting; it is also cropped a little during the summer. 
Fragrant mimosa (J/. fragrans) is a low, stout, spreading shrub 
with smooth foliage. It is one of the most palatable members of 
the genus, but when closely used is apt to be badly broken down 
because of lack of flexibility. The species is one of considerable im- 
portance on many goat, sheep, and cattle ranges, both the herbage 
and pods being readily taken. 
CASSIA FAMILY (CAESALPINACEAE) 
This family is regarded by some (especially older) botanists as 
a subfamily or tribe of the legume (pea) family. 
PARKINSONIA SPP. 
Parkinsonia is a genus of two species, one native to warmer por- 
tions of North America and South America, but now widely dis- 
tributed by cultivation, and one isolated species in south Africa. 
They are spiny shrubs or small desert or semidesert trees with small 
leaflets or, in drought, often leafless. 
Jerusalem-thorn (P. aculeata), known also as girasol-thorn, horse- 
bean (131),% bagote, paloverde, and retama, ranges from Florida 
to California and south into South America, and is frequently culti- 
vated in border towns. Economically its status is practically iden- 
tical with that of the closely related paloverdes (Cercidium spp.), 
but the larger leaves make it somewhat superior as browse. 
18 True horsebean is a variety of the cultivated Old World legume Vicia faba (syn. Faba 
vulgaris), grown for livestock. Retama is best restricted to members of that genus. 
