Parkinsonia florida

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Blue palo verde
Cercidium floridum whole.jpg
Tree in flower
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
Genus: Parkinsonia
Species:
P. florida
Binomial name
Parkinsonia florida

Parkinsonia florida, the blue palo verde (syn. Cercidium floridum), is a species of palo verde native to the Sonoran Deserts in the Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico. [1] [2] Its name means "green pole or stick" in Spanish, referring to the green trunk and branches, that perform photosynthesis.

Contents

Description

Parkinsonia florida grows to heights of 10–12 metres (33–39 ft). It is a rapidly growing large shrub or small tree, and rarely survives to 100 years. Compared to the closely related Parkinsonia microphylla (foothill paloverde), it appears more decumbent in overall form, is taller, and matures more quickly.

The plant's trunk, branches, and leaves are gray-green in color, hence the common name. The plant is drought-deciduous, shedding its foliage for most of the year, leafing out after rainfall. Photosynthesis is performed by the gray-green branches and twigs, regardless of absent leaves. [3]

The flowers are bright yellow, and pea-like, which cover the tree in late spring. They attract pollinators such as bees, beetles, and flies. They are followed by seed pods which are slightly larger and flatter and have harder shells than the foothill paloverde. These are a food source for small rodents and birds. [3]

Distribution

This plant is primarily found in the Sonoran Colorado Desert of southeastern California, and the Sonoran Deserts of southern Arizona and of northwestern Sonora state (Mexico). It is found predominantly in desert washes or bajadas , a result of its need for water, although occasionally it can be found in creosote desert scrub habitat, accessing seeps in desert hills up to 3,600 feet (1,100 m). [4] [5] Also found in the far eastern Mojave Desert of California in the northern Lower Colorado River Valley, and occasionally in the Mojave's mountains. [2] [4]

Uses

Native American

The plant's beans were used as a food source, and wood for carving ladles, by the indigenous Quechan, Mojave, and Pima people. [6] The Pima and Tohono Oʼodham both ate the beans when soft and immature and cooked whole; they also ground the ripe seeds into flour to eat as atole or gruel. [7] The flowers are sweet and edible either fresh or cooked.

Cultivation

Parkinsonia florida is cultivated as an ornamental plant and tree by specialty plant nurseries, for planting as a shrub or multi-trunked small tree in drought tolerant and wildlife gardens of suitable climates. [8] [9] It offers an unusual green-blue silhouette in gardens, and delicately patterned light shade over patios. [8]

Taxonomy and symbols

The Irish botanist Thomas Coulter was the first to categorize Parkinsonia florida. He obtained specimens near Hermosillo, in Sonora, Mexico, in 1830.

The blue palo verde is the state tree of Arizona. [10] In 1966, it was also named the "city tree" of South Miami, Florida. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sonoran Desert</span> Desert in northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States

The Sonoran Desert is a hot desert in North America and ecoregion that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the southwestern United States. It is the hottest desert in both Mexico and the United States. It has an area of 260,000 square kilometers (100,000 sq mi).

<i>Parkinsonia</i> Genus of legumes

Parkinsonia, also Cercidium, is a genus of flowering plants in the pea family, Fabaceae. It contains about 12 species that are native to semi-desert regions of Africa and the Americas. The name of the genus honors English apothecary and botanist John Parkinson (1567–1650).

<i>Washingtonia filifera</i> Species of palm tree

Washingtonia filifera, the desert fan palm, California fan palm, or California palm, is a flowering plant in the palm family Arecaceae, native to the far southwestern United States and Baja California, Mexico. Growing to 15–20 m (49–66 ft) tall by 3–6 m (10–20 ft) broad, it is an evergreen monocot with a tree-like growth habit. It has a sturdy, columnar trunk and waxy, fan-shaped (palmate) leaves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuma Desert</span> Part of the Sonoran Desert

The Yuma Desert is a lower-elevation section of the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and the northwest of Mexico. It lies in the Salton basin. The desert contains areas of sparse vegetation and has notable areas of sand dunes. With an average rainfall less than 8 inches (200 mm) each year, it is among the harshest deserts in North America. Human presence is sparse throughout, the largest city being Yuma, Arizona, on the Colorado River and the border of California.

<i>Quercus engelmannii</i> Species of oak tree

Quercus engelmannii, the Engelmann oak or Pasadena oak, is a species of oak in the white oak section, native to southern California and northwestern Baja California, Mexico.

<i>Parkinsonia microphylla</i> Species of tree

Parkinsonia microphylla, the yellow paloverde, foothill paloverde or little-leaved palo verde; syn. Cercidium microphyllum), is a species of palo verde.

<i>Canotia holacantha</i> Genus of flowering plants

Canotia holacantha, also known as crucifixion thorn or simply canotia, is a flowering shrub / small tree in the family Celastraceae.

<i>Psorothamnus spinosus</i> Species of legume

Psorothamnus spinosus, or Delea spinosa, is a perennial legume tree of the deserts in North America. Common names include smokethorn, smoketree, smoke tree, smokethorn dalea, and corona de Cristo.

<i>Olneya</i> Genus of legumes

Olneya tesota is a perennial flowering tree of the family Fabaceae, legumes, which is commonly known as ironwood, desert ironwood, or palo fierro in Spanish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Olneya. This tree is part of the western Sonoran Desert complex in the Southwestern United States.

<i>Bursera microphylla</i> Species of flowering plant

Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

<i>Condea emoryi</i> Species of flowering plant

Condea emoryi, the desert lavender, is a large, multi-stemmed shrub species of flowering plant in Lamiaceae, the mint family.

<i>Encelia actoni</i> Species of flowering plant

Encelia actoni, also known by the common names Acton brittlebush and Acton encelia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Phoradendron californicum</i> Species of flowering plant

Phoradendron californicum, the desert mistletoe or mesquite mistletoe, is a hemiparasitic plant native to southern California, Nevada, Arizona, Sonora, Sinaloa and Baja California. It can be found in the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts at elevations of up to 1400 m.

<i>Celtis reticulata</i> Species of tree

Celtis reticulata, with common names including netleaf hackberry, western hackberry, Douglas hackberry, netleaf sugar hackberry, palo blanco, and acibuche, is a small- to medium-sized deciduous tree native to western North America.

<i>Populus fremontii</i> Species of tree

Populus fremontii, commonly known as Frémont's cottonwood, is a cottonwood native to riparian zones of the Southwestern United States and northern through central Mexico. It is one of three species in Populus sect. Aigeiros. The tree was named after 19th-century American explorer and pathfinder John C. Frémont.

<i>Psorothamnus arborescens</i> Species of legume

Psorothamnus arborescens is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common name Mojave indigo bush.

<i>Tetracoccus hallii</i> Species of shrub

Tetracoccus hallii is a species of flowering shrub in the family Picrodendraceae, known by the common names Hall's shrubby-spurge and Hall's tetracoccus.

<i>Castela emoryi</i> Species of plant

Castela emoryi, with the common names crucifixion thorn, Emory's crucifixion-thorn, and Spanish: chaparro amargosa, is a shrub species in the genus Castela of the family Simaroubaceae.

Flora of the Sonoran Desert includes six subdivisions based on vegetation types. Two are north of the boundary between the United States and Mexico, and four are south of the boundary. The flora of the Colorado Desert are influenced by the environment of the very dry and hot lower areas of the Colorado River valley, which may be barren, treeless, and generally have no large cacti. Flora of the Arizona Upland are comparatively lush, with trees and large columnar cacti that can withstand winter frosts. Those subdivisions of the Sonoran Desert which lie south of the international border are characterized by plants that cannot withstand frost.

References

  1. ↑ USDA . accessed 4.1.2013
  2. 1 2 Calflora Database: Parkinsonia florida accessed 4.1.2013
  3. 1 2 Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center Native Plant Information Network (NPIN) . accessed 4.1.2013
  4. 1 2 Jepson. accessed 4.1.2013
  5. ↑ Calflora Database: distribution map
  6. ↑ University of Michigan – Dearborn: Native American Ethnobotany . accessed 4.1.2013
  7. ↑ Peattie, Donald Culross (1953). A Natural History of Western Trees. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 576.
  8. 1 2 Las Pilitas Horticultural Treatment
  9. ↑ California Native Plant Link Exchange—CNLPX: horticulture, seed and nursery sources
  10. ↑ "48 Arizona Facts". Meet The USA. 2022.
  11. ↑ Shelley, Donna. "South Miami History: Part III". City of South Miami, SOMI Magazine. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
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