| MESQUITE |
| Check out my great Mesquite Bean Jelly recipe at the bottom of the page! It's delicious and tastes like honey. |
| Mesquite is the most common shrub/small tree of the Desert Southwest. Like many members of the Legume Family (called Fabaceae these days), mesquite restores nitrogen to the soil. There are 3 common species of mesquite: Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa), Screwbean Mesquite (Prosopis pubescens ) and Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina). |
| All 3 are deciduous and have characteristic bean pods which have long been used by humans, wildlife and livestock as a food source. It is estimated that over 75% of a Coyote's diet in late summer is mesquite beans. Native Americans relied on the mesquite pod as a dietary staple from which they made tea, syrup and a ground meal called pinole. They also used the bark for basketry, fabrics and medicine. A favorite of bees and other insects, mesquite flowers produce a fragrant honey. The taproots, which can be larger than the trunk, are often dug up for firewood. Next to Ironwood, mesquite is the best firewood of the desert, because it burns slowly and is smokeless. The wood is also used for fence posts, tool handles and to create aromatic charcoal for barbecuing. Cattlemen regard mesquite as range weeds and eradicate them, but much of the invasion of mesquite into former grasslands, where it did not grow a century ago, is due to overgrazing. Range Sonoran, Mojave and Chihuahuan deserts from western Texas, west to extreme southwestern Utah, southeastern California and adjoining Mexico. Habitat Alongside desert washes and streams, plains and hillsides, often in thickets below 5,500 feet. Description Honey Mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa) Honey Mesquite is a shrub or small tree characterized by 8-inch, bean-like pods and 3-inc spines occurring at large nodes on branches. It reaches a height of 20 feet; the trunk may be up to 12 inches in diameter. Honey Mesquite has smooth, brown bark that roughens with age. Narrow, bipinnately compound leaves 2 to 3 inches long are sharply pointed. They are yellowish green in color with oblong leaflets 1/8" wide and 1 1/4" long. Honey Mesquite blooms in May displaying 1/4-inch long fragrant, creamy yellow flowers in narrow 3-inch clusters. The fruit is a flat, narrow, yellow-green pod up to 8 inches long and ending in a point. Screwbean Mesquite (Prosopis pubescens) The Screwbean Mesquite is a shrub or small tree characterized by 2-inch, screw-like pods and spiny, twisted branches. It reaches a height of 20 feet; the trunk may be up to 8 inches in diameter. The Screwbean Mesquite has light-brown to reddish, smooth bark that separates into long, shaggy strips. Narrow, bipinnately compound leaves 2 to 3 inches long are sharply pointed. They are dull green in color and slightly hairy containing 5 to 8 pairs of oblong leaflets 1/8" wide and 3/8" long. The Screwbean Mesquite blooms May through August displaying many crowded, 2-inch clusters of 3/8-inch light yellow flowers. The fruit is a hard, 2-inch, spiraled, brown-to-yellow pod with sweet pulp. Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina) Velvet Mesquite is a larger shrub or medium-size tree characterized by straight, 2-inch spines on the branches. Often growing in dense thickets, it is larger than the other species, reaching a height of 30 feet; the trunk may be up to 24 inches in diameter. Velvet Mesquite has dark-brown, smooth bark that separates into long, shaggy strips. Narrow, bipinnately compound leaves 2 to 3 inches long are sharply pointed. They are dull green in color with gray hairs. Velvet Mesquite blooms in April, and sometimes again in August, displaying small, fragrant, greenish yellow flowers in slender, cylindrical spikes up to 4 inches long. The fruit is a slender, brown pod up to 8 inches long. Medical studies of mesquite and other desert foods, said that despite its sweetness, mesquite flour (made by grinding whole pods) "is extremely effective in controlling blood sugar levels" in people with diabetes. The sweetness comes from fructose, which the body can process without insulin. In addition, soluble fibers, such as galactomannin gum, in the seeds and pods slow absorption of nutrients, resulting in a flattened blood sugar curve, unlike the peaks that follow consumption of wheat flour, corn meal and other common staples. "The gel-forming fiber allows foods to be slowly digested and absorbed over a four- to six-hour period, rather than in one or two hours, which produces a rapid rise in blood sugar," |
| Like the Coyote, the Black-tail Jackrabbit, the Western Diamondback, scorpions, the Saguaro and prickly pear cacti, the mesquites symbolize our Southwestern deserts. Like the Indian peoples and the Hispanic and Anglo settlers, the mesquites define the very notions of individuality, adaptability, opportunism, toughness and stubbornness. Occurring as respectable trees or as small shrubs, they cover a monumental range, spanning tens of millions of acres from the southern Rolling Plains and the Texas Gulf Coast westward across the Chihuahuan, Sonoran and Mojave Deserts. They prosper in a diversity of habitats, from humid and sandy coastal plains to the grassy prairies to perennial and intermittent stream beds to desert basin shrub lands and dunes to flattop mesas to mile-high rocky mountain slopes. |
| The mesquites, including the three species in our Southwestern deserts, belong to the legume family, which ranks near the top of plants especially adapted to an arid environment. Typically, the legumes, which have woody stems and branches, produce bipinnately compound leaves (leaves with two or more secondary veins, each with two rows of leaflets). They bear flowers that have five petals. They produce abundant large seedpods that serve as a nutritious food source for wildlife. They grow wide-spreading and deep-reaching root systems that host colonies of bacteria that can fix nitrogen, one of the minerals most important to plant germination and growth. |
| Our three species of mesquites, which include the Honey Mesquite, the Velvet Mesquite and the Screwbean Mesquite, share various characteristics. They range from a few feet to 10 to 15 feet in height, although the Honey and Velvet Mesquites may reach 30 to 60 feet in especially favorable settings. They may have single or multiple-branched stems, with each plant assuming its own distinctive shape. They come armed with thorns on the smaller branches. They shed their leaves in the winter. They bloom from spring into summer, bearing small frothy-looking clusters – called “catkins” – of tiny, five-petal, pale green or yellowish flowers, which lure numerous pollinating insects. They produce pods that contain hard and long-lasting seeds that must be scarified before they will germinate. Mesquites have lateral roots that extend far beyond the canopies of the plants and taproots that penetrate well below the surface of the soil. Some mesquites may live for more than two centuries, according to Thomas B. Wilson, Robert H. Webb and Thomas L. Thompson, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-8. |
| The Honey Mesquite, distinguished by smooth-surfaced leaflets, makes its primary home in the Chihuahuan Desert, east of the Continental Divide, although its outer range extends across the Sonoran Desert as well. The closely related Velvet Mesquite, marked by velvet-surfaced leaflets, has as its primary residence the Sonoran Desert, west of the Continental Divide. The Screwbean Mesquite, identified by its tightly spiraled bean pods, has established as its basic range the northern Sonoran Desert up into the Mojave Desert. Where distributions of the species overlap, the plants hybridize, often making identification difficult, according to Wilson and his co-authors. |
| From crown to root tips, the mesquites have evolved a number of adaptations especially designed to help assure survival in the desert environment. Their thorns, sharply pointed and strong, challenge browsing by desert herbivores. (“They will not decay in the flesh or gristle as will prickly pear thorns,” Dobie said, “but will last longer than any flesh in which they become embedded.”) Their leaves, small and wax coated, minimize transpiration (evaporation of the plant’s water into the atmosphere). During extreme drought, the mesquites may shed their leaves to further conserve moisture. Their flowers, fragrant and delicate, attract the insects, especially the bees, necessary for prolific pollination. Their seeds, abundant and protectively coated, may last for decades, serving as seed banks that improve the odds for wide distribution and successful germination. Most notably, mesquites’ root systems give the plants a competitive botanical edge in the desert landscape. As hosts to nitrogen-fixing bacteria, they help enrich otherwise impoverished desert soils in which the plants and their progeny grow. In lateral reach, they out compete other plants in the battle for soil moisture. In their taproots’ downward reach, they find subsurface water, sometimes 150 to perhaps 200 feet below the surface. According to the Arizona- Sonora Desert Museum Internet site, “The mesquite’s root system is the deepest documented; a live root was discovered in a copper mine over 160 feet (50 meters) below the surface.” |
| During the Ice Ages, which lasted from about 1.8 million to some 10,000 years ago, the mesquites “coevolved with large herbivores, such as mastodons and ground sloths, which ate the pods and then dispersed them widely in their feces,” said the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Internet site. The mesquites found the arrangement to be ideal. The seeds became scarified by mastication, preparing them for germination. Seed parasites died when exposed to the animals’ gut juices. The seeds found moisture and nutrients in the animals’ dung. It proved to be a perfect formula for expansion. Over time, the mesquites expanded their range to correspond largely with the herbivores’ range, which extended from flood plains and washes up into prairies, mesas and mountain slopes. When the Ice Ages ended, however, the large herbivores died out, becoming extinct, and rainfall diminished. Deprived of their animal agents for distribution and faced with intensifying competition for water and nutrients, mesquites retreated to the flood plains and washes, forfeiting the higher elevation landscapes to the grasses. Further, the mesquites remained contained by frequent wildfires fueled by the grasses, which recovered within a season. When European descendants moved into the desert Southwest, mesquites found a new ally, domesticated livestock, especially the cattle. The new herbivores not only ate and dispersed the pods, the great livestock herds stripped away the desert grasses, eliminating competition and wildfire fuel. In many areas, the opportunistic mesquites moved in to displace grasses. They reclaimed much of their Ice Age range, expanding from the flood plains and washes again up into prairies, mesas and mountain slopes. Mesquites grew up along the historic cattle trails, defining the routes to this day. In fact, mesquites have become established in borrow ditches along modern desert roadways traveled by cattle trucks. Mesquites as Botanical Enemies The mesquites’ encroachment into pasture lands and displacement of grasses have frustrated cattlemen, who unwittingly fostered the advance in the first place by overgrazing. “Because dense mesquite out competes grass for water and light and because mesquite groves don’t support fire, this conversion if permanent (on a human time scale) without physical intervention,” according to the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum Internet site. The mesquites have largely thwarted any attempt at control, including, for instance, planned burns, herbicides or physical removal—all methods that mean high cost and potential environmental damage. For instance, “Fire has been used as a management tool to control mesquite distribution for decades” said Wilson and his associates. However, one authority “determined that within 5 years of a fire in southern Arizona [mesquite] biomass [the total dry weight of the mesquite population] had attained preburn levels.” The mesquites may succumb to frequently repeated burns but so do the native grasses, making way for imported invasive species such as the extremely aggressive Lehmann lovegrass. Herbicides, usually applied by aircraft, have also been used for decades in attempts to control the mesquites. However, “To completely remove mesquite or at least limit its spread in open rangeland using herbicides only, multiple treatments are required; otherwise, the long-term viability of mesquite seeds and their abundance with the seed bank would ensure continual recruitment,” said Wilson and associates. Moreover, “These multiple applications could create adverse side effects to rangeland species diversity and biomass… With the attendant costs of herbicides and aerial application over large areas, a viable long-term management strategy using only herbicides may be impractical.” Physical removal – by methods such as dozing, root plowing, chaining, roller chopping or shredding – has reduced mesquite density in pasture lands for brief periods, but the plants soon re-sprout from their bases, more dense than ever. Moreover, said Wilson and his fellow authors, “driving large mechanical equipment through rangeland can cause soil compaction, crush animals, destroy animal burrows, and uproot desirable plant species such as perennial grasses.” “The white man,” said Dobie, “sowed with over-grazing; he is now reaping thickets of mesquites that are stabbing millions of acres of land into non-productiveness.” |
| If mesquites have arrived as intruders in the view of cattlemen of the Southwest, they have, by contrast, long been a welcome presence in the larders, livestock feed bins, workshops, gardens and medicine cabinets in the perspective of many desert residents. Cabeza de Vaca, in his Adventures in the Unknown Interior of America (translated and edited by Cyclone Covey), said that “The Indian method of preparing [mesquite beans] is to dig a fairly deep hole in the ground, throw in the beans, and pound them with a club the thickness of a leg and a fathom and a half long, until they are well mashed. Besides the earth that gets mixed in from the bottom and sides of the hole, the Indians add some handfuls, then pound awhile longer. They throw the meal into a basket-like jar and pour water on it until it is covered “Then all squat round, and each takes out as much as he can with one hand. To the partakers, the dish is a great banquet” During the inevitable droughts and deprivations of desert frontier days, the mesquite trees served up the primary food source for caravans and settlers. Mesquite beans became “manna from heaven” for the suffering men of the 1841 Texas Santa Fe Expedition said George W. Kendall (quoted by Ken E. Rogers in The Magnificent Mesquite) in his journal. “When our provisions and coffee ran out, the men ate [mesquite beans] in immense quantities, and roasted or boiled them!” During the Civil War, when groceries often ran short, mesquite beans served as passable coffee. Mesquite blooms, pollinated by bees, yield a connoisseur’s honey. Mesquite beans, durable enough for years of storage, became the livestock feed of choice when pasture land grasses failed due to drought or overgrazing. They were carried by early freighters, who fed the beans to their draft animals, especially in Mexico. Although often crooked in shape, mesquite tree branches, stable and durable, filled needs for wood during the construction of Spanish missions, and colonial haciendas, ranch houses and fencing. Its wood serves artisans in the crafting of furniture, flooring, paneling and sculptures. “Of the tree mesquite,” said Dobie, “there is one kind of yellowish wood and another of a deep reddish hue as beautiful when polished as the richest mahogany.” In some areas, mesquites provide a bountiful harvest of wood for use in fireplaces and barbecue grills. Mesquites, requiring little water and only low maintenance, have found a place in Southwest xeriscaped gardens and parks. They not only produce beans and blooms that attract wildlife, they provide perches and nesting sites for birds, including even hummingbirds. In the frontier days, according to Dobie, the mesquites were used by the Indians and the settlers as a source of many remedies for a host of ailments. The mesquite root, or bark, tea, Indians and settlers believed, cured diarrhea. Boiled mesquite roots yielded a soothing balm that cured colic and healed flesh wounds. Mesquite leaves, crushed and mixed with water and urine, cured headaches. Mesquite gum preparations soothed ailing eyes, eased a sore throat, cleared up dysentery and relieved headaches. |
| Note Medical studies of mesquite and other desert foods, said that despite its sweetness, mesquite flour (made by grinding whole pods) "is extremely effective in controlling blood sugar levels" in people with diabetes. The sweetness comes from fructose, which the body can process without insulin. In addition, soluble fibers, such as galactomannin gum, in the seeds and pods slow absorption of nutrients, resulting in a flattened blood sugar curve, unlike the peaks that follow consumption of wheat flour, corn meal and other common staples. "The gel-forming fiber allows foods to be slowly digested and absorbed over a four- to six-hour period, rather than in one or two hours, which produces a rapid rise in blood sugar," |
| Mesquite Bean Jelly Ingredients: 3 cups juice 1/4 cup lemon juice 4 1/2 cups sugar 1 box Sure Jell Instructions: Gather fully ripe mesquite beans (When they have turned a tan color and begun to drop from the tree) Immerse in water for a time so that any bugs that are in or on the pods will crawl out and can be removed. I never harvest the pods from the ground, these tend to have lots of bugs. When the pods are ripe, you can easily pull them from the tree. {be careful harvesting the pods, remember the mesquite tree has thorns!} Drain and put in a pot and cover with water. Cook until soft. You may have to add water while cooking to get them soft (it takes a while). After the pods have become soft, and simmered a while, you will see the water is a beautiful honey color. I just let mine simmer until it is a deep rich honey color, then using tongs I remove the pods from the pot. (I threw the used pods into my compost pile and recycled them) Strain the juice through a jelly bag, or muslin cloth. I prefer the muslin cloth because I can double it up and really strain the juice thoroughly. Take 3 cups of the strained juice, add the 1/4 cup lemon juice, and box of Sure Jell. Bring the mixture to a full, rolling boil; gradually add the 4 1/2 cups sugar, stirring until it is well dissolved. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until the liquid reaches the jelly stage. Spoon into hot sterile jars and seal with paraffin or two-part lids. I sterilize my jars and rings in the dishwasher, but wash the lids with hot soapy water in the sink. You do not want to ruin the rubber seal on the lids. I do not have a canner, so I place my jars in a pot of water. Once the jars are in the pot, the water level should be about halfway up the outside of the jars. Any more than this and the jars try and float and fall over. I bring the water too a slow boil before spooning in the hot jelly mixture. Spoon the hot jelly mixture into the hot jars, be careful not to get any jelly on the rim of the jar, this could impede an airtight seal when you put on the lids. If you do get some liquid on the rim, simple wipe it off with a damp rag, or paper towel. Fill the jars with the hot jelly mixture, but remember to leave about a 1/4 inch of head space between the jelly and the lid. Once the jelly is in the jars I remove them from the hot water bath with a jar lifter or tongs. Immediately place on the lids and screw the rings into place for a tight seal. Let the sealed jars sit and cool at room temperature. After a while you should hear the lids popping as they suck down. This means you have a good air tight seal. If a jars lid does not suck down, you have not achieved the seal necessary for preservation. Once cooled the jelly is still good, but you will need to keep these jars in the refrigerator or else they will spoil. Enjoy! |
| Native Americans made cordage from the fibers of the yucca cactus. Once this very strong cordage was made, they could use it too weave baskets, ropes, snares, etc. To separate the individual fibers from the yucca cactus leaf they used a variety of methods. When I was taught this ancient technique, I was advised to use a needle. The needle method worked, but I wanted to stick with what I thought would be a more traditional method so I thought about an alternative. If I was living in the past and did not have a needle, what else could I use? My solution was to use a thorn from the Mesquite Tree. What I found was that the Mesquite Thorn actually worked better then a needle, so from that moment on all of my Yucca baskets were made using a mesquite thorn. |
