Parkinsonia aculeata

 Parkinsonia aculeata (Mexican palo verde) ( )

Fabaceae

  • Mexican palo verde does not occur naturally in California but has been used widely in landscaping and shows the potential to become an invasive in our wash woodland habitats. Mexican palo verde is a large tree up to 40 feet in height. White it has yellowish-green bark on its upper young branches, it lacks a green trunk like our two native palo verde species. The most distinctive trait is its unusual leaves, which are pinnately divided with an exposed central rachis and almost no foliar area. "California Desert Plants, Philip W Rundel, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."
  • This large green-barked tree is commonly cultivated or semi-naturalized on farms and ranches. Medicine: tea made from the twigs was taken to relieve stomach pain. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians".

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