Prosopis

Morphological Summary

Genus of spiny shrubs and trees in the family Fabaceae (subfamily Caesalpinioideae), commonly known as mesquites, algarrobos and algorrobes. It comprises around 44 species distributed mainly in arid and semi-arid zones of the Americas (especially North America, Mexico and South America), with some species in Africa and Asia. They are extremely drought-adapted plants with deep root systems (up to 50 m in some species), making them important nitrogen fixers and revegetators of arid zones. The pod fruits (sweet mesocarp in several species) are food for wildlife and humans. Some species have become problematic invasives in Africa and Australia.