594 
MESQUITE 
Hardemen and Willbarger Counties on the 
Red River to Valverde County on the Rio 
Grande mesquite is generally distributed, 
but thruout' its northern range the trees 
become more dwarfed and the stands more 
scattering. Short, crooked trunks with 
long irregularly curved branches produce 
scragly trees, suggestive of long-neglected 
orchards. The trees have a large taproot 
which extends to a great depth, and it is 
not uncommon to find the*larger part of 
the tree under rather than above the 
ground. 
The rapid spread of mesquite is largely 
due to the abundance of seed and to its 
wide dissemination by live stock, but its 
distribution is determined chiefly by the 
character of the soil. It can not compete 
with the native trees, and is forced to oc¬ 
cupy low or level areas where the soil is 
fine and compact. It does not occur on 
very moist soils along the streams because 
it is crowded out by the native hardwood 
trees. It occupies the level areas with fine 
silty soils, which are less porous, known as 
“mesquite flats.” Large areas of the mes¬ 
quite prairies have been reclaimed for agri¬ 
cultural purposes, but fortunately the 
greater part of the land is planted with 
cotton, which is as valuable as mesquite as 
a source of honey. In parts of the Trans- 
Pecos region mesquite is one of the sur¬ 
plus honey plants, altho the main depend¬ 
ence of the beekeeper is irrigated alfalfa. 
The leaves are bipinnate, composed of 
two branches or pinnae, each of which 
bears from G to 25 pairs of narrow leaflets. 
At the point of union of the two branches 
of the leaf there is a gland. The small 
fragrant flowers are in yellowish cylindric 
spikes, 3 to 5 inches long. There are 5 
sepals, 5 petals, and 10 stamens. The fruit 
is a round pod 6 to 8 inches in length, 
which is greedily eaten by cattle. Even 
human beings find that the beans have a 
good flavor, and children particularly rel¬ 
ish them each season as they ripen. They 
vary, however, considerably in taste, some 
being so bitter that they cannot be eaten, 
while others are very sweet and agreeable 
in flavor. Their chief value is as food for 
cattle. 
The mesquite has usually two separate 
and distinct blooming periods during the 
year, altho in some seasons there is no in¬ 
terval. The first comes during April and 
the second during the last of June or in 
July. These periods are sometimes a week 
or more earlier or later according to the 
season, the occuri'ence of cold weather, and 
the rainfall of the preceding fall and win¬ 
ter. If rain has been abundant during the 
winter no matter how dry the following 
spring and summer, there will be a profu¬ 
sion of bloom and a heavy flow of nectar. 
The long taproot penetrates- the soil to a 
great depth and is thus able to obtain wa¬ 
ter, which is beyond the reach of many 
other shrubs and trees. 
Mesquite is one of the main honey plants 
of Texas and the source of a very large 
surplus. From 25 to 100 pounds of honey 
per colony are stored from the bloom ac¬ 
cording to the locality and weather condi¬ 
tions. The honey is light amber in color 
and of good quality. It is a better table 
honey than any other of the Texan honeys, 
since one never tires of it, as is apt to be 
the case with a honey having a more pro¬ 
nounced flavor. The honey, altho ranked 
very high in Texas, would in the North 
probably be classed with the amber hon¬ 
eys. Nectar secretion is more reliable on 
light sandy soils than on heavy land. 
In New Mexico in the valley of the Rio 
Grande River beekeepers formerly depend¬ 
ed on mesquite and other desert plants, but 
now pay attention only to alfalfa and 
sweet clover. At La Mesa in some seasons 
the mesquite flow is fine, but is often a 
failure. Mesquite is also valuable in Otero 
County. Texas mesquite is also found in 
southern Nevada. In Lincoln County there 
is a large acreage of mesquite, which with 
the mild winters and early springs should 
be very valuable for an early honey flow. 
Arizona Mesquite (Prosopis velutina). 
This tree is the largest of the mesquites 
often attaining a height of 45 feet or more. 
It grows in the hot dry deserts of southern 
Arizona, southern California, and Sonora. 
The leaves, flowers, and pods are very simi¬ 
lar to those of Texas mesquite. Arizona 
mesquite blooms for the first time in May 
and again in July. On the arid deserts it is 
often not over 15 feet tall. It yields boun¬ 
tifully in the Buckeye Valley west of Phoe¬ 
nix and at Sentinel, Maricopa County. In 
the latter locality there are no cultivated 
crops and the honey plants are willow, 
