 DESCRIPTION:
Tree up to 35' high. Bark is gray to dark gray and becomes fissured with
age (wood inside is beautiful chocolate brown). Spines brown-tipped and
slightly curved. Leaves are simple pinnately compound and are a bluish-green
that makes them appear darker than most other trees. Flowers are pea-shaped,
with five unequal petals, and are usually pale lavender but range from
whitish to deep violet-purple. Fruit are a brown, hairy pod. Fabaceae
(Legume) Family.
NATURAL HISTORY: Frost-sensitive, it occurs almost entirely in the Sonoran
desert. Its wood is among the densest in the world; in fact, it sinks
in water. In the 1960s the Seri's in Sonora began carving the beautiful
wood for the tourist trade; since then many others have been mass-producing
the wood carvings and also harvesting the trees to make charcoal. This
has led to depleted populations and the protection of the Desert Ironwood
in Arizona and Sonora. |
