Mesquite serves many purposes in the high desert. Its form and texture make it a desirable landscaping plant. It is readily available, adapted, and requires only the water nature provides. However, if supplied with extra moisture, it will grow faster, stronger, and fuller.

Mesquite can grow quite tall - a fine specimen is on the highway towards Tucson between Huachuca City and Whetstone. The City of Sierra Vista has trimmed and manicured mesquites in Veterans Memorial Park. These gnarly mesquite limbs support narrow leaf structures which offer a bit of shade to the many visitors who enjoy the oasis of the park. The mottled shade offers relief from the sun, the leaves usually moving gently with a light breeze.

The wood is dense and has a fine grain with reddish hues prized by southwestern furniture makers. This density also makes it a desired slow burning wood for fireplaces. Its distinctive aroma used on an outside grill flavors food with a unique difference. Mesquite chips are packaged in Tucson and sold nationally for this flavor producing characteristic. Many local mesquite trees contain dead limb segments traced to a major freeze several years ago. This dead wood can be distinguished from living limbs and removed during the summer when the live limbs are leafed out.

Mesquite is an important browse feed for game. It is also used for nesting birds and the soft soil beneath the trees hide small game and insects. The limbs are used in fencing and corrals and the inner bark in some Indian woven products.

The beans were used by the first Americans in the making of a flour base called pinole (see related article elsewhere in this newsletter). The seed pods of mesquite are edible and taste sweeter when they are slightly red. The seeds are encased in a hard container which is compressed between each individual seed in the pod. Screwbean mesquite is easily recognized by its twisted seed pod.

Mesquite can be started easily from seed and quite a number of seedlings will be noticed around mature mesquite stands. The soil beneath Ae mesquite trees is light, rich in compost, and perfect for the germination of seeds. Seedlings do not transplant to a new location with much success. Planting the seeds in a container and waiting until they achieve some mass will assure more success when transplanting.

Once a tree has established, it is difficult to remove since the root stock travels to extensive lengths. If you cut it off, it will come back, its branches growing closer to the ground, sort of like they're hoping not to be noticed and clipped back again. Mesquites will reclaim a cleared field in a matter of a few years making it unpopular with cattle growers. In a mature mesquite area, the cows eat the mesquite beans, a welcome substitute for sparse grass.

It is difficult to classify mesquites since they hybrid easily and distinguishing characteristics are not simply identified. Nurseries stock Chilean and Argentine mesquite. The Chilean mesquite can be an evergreen in a mild climate.

The mesquite will have a dwarf, bushy appearance in some areas where water is not readily available, but give it water and a subtle beauty will emerge giving gentle grace to a high desert landscape.

The Desert Legume Program lists the following mesquite varieties:

Argentine: Semi-evergreen, 30-50 ft high and 30-50 ft spread. Hardiness: 10-15?, fast growth rate.

Chilean: Semi-evergreen,20-40 ft high and 30-50 ft spread. Hardiness: 10-15 degrees, fast growth rate.

Texas Honey: Deciduous, 15- 30 ft high and 20-40 ft spread. Hardiness: -10 degrees, fast growth rate.

Western Honey: Deciduous, 10-15 ft high and 15-30 ft spread. Hardiness: -10 degrees, fast growth rate.

Screwbean: Deciduous, 10-20 ft high and spread. Hardiness: 0 degrees, moderate to fast growth rate.

Velvet: Deciduous, 15-30 ft high and 20-40 ft spread. Hardiness: 5 degrees, moderate growth rate.

MESQUITE BEANS: HOW TO MAKE MESQUITE FLOUR

Mesquite pod flour adds flavor andd sweetness to many foods. Try substituting it for up to 1/2 the flour in bread, cake and cookie recipes. Here's how to make it.

Collect the ripe bean pods using a small rake to pull down the branches so you can reach the beans. Ripe beans are tan or streaked with red, crisp and sweet to the taste. (Taste the beans from each tree because some are sweeter than others.) Break the beans into your blender and grind for about 15 seconds. Sift out the seeds and fibers and store the flour in an air-tight container. For finer flour, sift again through a sieve. If you wish to store the bean pods, keep them in the freezer or heat them at 150 degrees for 3 hours to kill the beetle larva inside the seeds. -From The Desert Botanical Garden Trail Book.