Mesquite is a common name for several plants in the genus Prosopis, which contains over 40 species of small leguminous trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. They have extremely long roots to seek water from very far under ground. As a legume, mesquites are one of the few sources of fixed nitrogen in the desert habitat. The trees bloom from spring to summer. They often produce fruits known as "pods". Prosopis spp. are able to grow up to 8 metres (26 ft) tall, depending on site and climate. They are deciduous and depending on location and rainfall have either deep or shallow roots. Prosopis is considered long-lived because of the low mortality rate after the dicotyledonous stage and juveniles are also able to survive in conditions with low light and drought. The Cahuilla indigenous people of western North America were known to eat the seeds of mesquite.
Prosopis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. It contains around 45 species of spiny trees and shrubs found in subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas, Africa, Western Asia, and South Asia. They often thrive in arid soil and are resistant to drought, on occasion developing extremely deep root systems. Their wood is usually hard, dense and durable. Their fruits are pods and may contain large amounts of sugar. The generic name means "burdock" in late Latin and originated in the Greek language.
Aesculus californica, commonly known as the California buckeye or California horse-chestnut, is a species of buckeye native to California and southwestern Oregon.
Lomatium utriculatum is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name common lomatium or spring gold. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California, where it grows in many types of habitat including chaparral, and in the Sierra Nevada.
Neltuma glandulosa, formerly Prosopis glandulosa, commonly known as honey mesquite, is a species of small to medium-sized, thorny shrub or tree in the legume family (Fabaceae).
Prosopis velutina, commonly known as velvet mesquite, is a small to medium-sized tree. It is a legume adapted to a dry, desert climate. Though considered to be a noxious weed in states outside its natural range, it plays a vital role in the ecology of the Sonoran Desert.
Arctostaphylos morroensis is a species of manzanita known by the common name Morro manzanita. This shrub is endemic to San Luis Obispo County, California, where it is known only from the vicinity of Morro Bay.
Arctostaphylos montaraensis, known by the common name Montara manzanita, is a species of manzanita in the family Ericaceae.
Arctostaphylos silvicola is a species of manzanita known by the common names Bonny Doon or silverleaf manzanita. It is endemic to the sandhills of the southern Santa Cruz Mountains in California's Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.
Atriplex lentiformis is a species of saltbush.
Ceanothus leucodermis, with the common names chaparral whitethorn or chaparral white thorn, is a species of shrub in the family Rhamnaceae. This Ceanothus is an importance browse for several types of ungulate, such as the mule deer and bighorn sheep, who prefer the new growth and shoots to the older, spiny parts.
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.
Phoradendron macrophyllum is a species of flowering plant in the sandalwood family known by the common names Colorado Desert mistletoe, bigleaf mistletoe, and Christmas mistletoe. It is native to western United States and northern Mexico from Oregon to Colorado to Texas to Baja California, where it grows in many types of wooded habitat at elevations up to 1700 m.
Prosopis strombulifera is a species of mesquite or algarrobo, a shrub in the legume family. It is known by the English common names Argentine screwbean and creeping screwbean and the Spanish common name retortuño. This shrub is native to Argentina, where it grows in arid and saline soils. It became well known in California after it was introduced to Imperial County and took hold in the wild, growing as an invasive noxious weed. The plant grows from a network of long, spreading roots and may grow to three meters in height. Many plants may grow together in an area, forming a monotypic stand. The shrub has waxy-textured leaves made up of a pair of leaflets which are each divided into several pairs of secondary leaflets each up to a centimeter long. Whitish spines up to 2 cm long appear near the leaf bases. The inflorescence is a spherical head of many very narrow tubelike yellow flowers, the head measuring about 1.5 cm wide. The fruit is a bright yellow seed pod coiled tightly into a cylindrical stick up to 5 cm long. It contains several greenish seeds, each about 0.5 cm long.
Rorippa columbiae is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common names Columbian yellowcress and Columbia yellow cress.
Senna didymobotrya is a species of flowering plant in the legume family known by the common names African senna, popcorn senna, candelabra tree, and peanut butter cassia. It is native to Africa, where it can be found across the continent in several types of habitats.
Angelica capitellata, synonym Sphenosciadium capitellatum, is a species of flowering plant in the family Apiaceae. When treated as Sphenosciadium capitellatum, it was the only species in the monotypic genus Sphenosciadium. It is known by the common names woollyhead parsnip, ranger's buttons, button parsley, and swamp white heads.
Stanleya elata is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae known by the common name Panamint princesplume. It is native to the desert mountains of eastern California and western Nevada, where it grows in rocky and scrubby habitat types. It may also occur in Arizona. It is a perennial herb producing one or more erect stems reaching about 1.5 meters in maximum height. They are hairless and often waxy in texture. The thick, leathery leaves have lance-shaped or oblong blades with smooth or toothed edges measuring up to 15 centimeters long. They are borne on petioles. The top of the stem is occupied by a long inflorescence which is a dense, snaking raceme of many flowers. Each flower has four narrow, threadlike yellow or whitish petals each about a centimeter long and a millimeter wide. The fruit is a long, thin, wormlike silique which may be 10 centimeters in length. It contains tiny seeds.
Mesquite flour is made from the dried and ground pods of the mesquite, a tree that grows throughout Mexico and the southwestern US in arid and drought-prone climates. The flour made from the long, beige-colored seedpods has a sweet, slightly nutty flavor and can be used in a wide variety of applications. It has a high-protein, low-glycemic content and can serve as a gluten-free replacement for flours that contain gluten.
Notholithocarpus densiflorus, commonly known as the tanoak or tanbark-oak, is a broadleaf tree in the family Fagaceae, and the type species of the genus Notholithocarpus. It is native to the far western United States, particularly Oregon and California. It ranges from 15–40 meters in height, with a trunk diameter of 60–190 centimeters.
