 DESCRIPTION:
Tree to 40' high. Bark yellowish-green and smooth. Spines are long, straight,
and occur in pairs at the base of leaves. Leaves are bipinnately compound
to 20" long with 10-40 pairs of small leaflets that fall off quickly
as the soil dries, leaving the long streamers that only fall off under
more severely dry conditions. Flowers are bright yellow to 1" wide,
with 5 petals, with the largest petal turning orangish with age. The dark
brown seed pod may grow to 4" in length. Fabaceae
(Legume) Family.
NATURAL HISTORY: Flowers bloom mainly in spring. The Mexican Paloverde
naturally occurs in the American tropics, and it likely was introduced
to Arizona as it has been worldwide. Here it is most commonly found in
disturbed areas such as roadsides, but it also is widely planted as a
landscape plant due to its fast growth rate (however, it has many drawbacks
as a landscape plant -- e.g., messy, spiny, aggressive, and it lives only
about 30 years). |
