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Plant · P-061
Honey Mesquite
Neltuma glandulosa
Honey Mesquite is a nitrogen-fixing tree whose seed pods grind into a sweet flour that has served as a staple food - one of the few trees anywhere that yields a grain substitute rather than a fruit. It flowers from February clear through September, making it one of the best bee forage trees for nearly the whole growing season, and its wood burns as prized firewood and charcoal. A taproot reported to run 18 m deep lets it reach water no neighbouring plant can, and thorns on young growth run up to 2 in. The pods are fine as an occasional treat for livestock but dangerous as a main diet - cattle that eat them as more than 60 percent of their feed for long stretches can develop fatal neurological damage.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 8–11
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Sub-Canopy- Soil pH
- 5–8
- Plant type
- Deciduous Tree
- Mature height
- 23–30 ft
- Mature spread
- 23–30 ft
- Plant spacing
- 25–30 ft
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Both
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
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Behind the record
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