Parkinsonia florida

Parkinsonia florida  (blue palo verde) ( )

Cercidium floridum

Fabaceae

  • Blue palo verde is a moderate sized tree reaching up to 25 feet in height. It is common in washes in the lower desert areas of California where it often occurs with desert ironwood. Blue palo verde species of the Coachella Valley and Salton Sea basin, it is also widespread cross the broader Sonoran Desert outside of Califoria. The bark of the blue palo verde is a distinctive blue-green, it has spines at each node and leaves with clear petioles. "California Desert Plants, Philip W Rundel, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."
  • The blue paloverde is distinguished from foothills paloverde by larger, fewer leaflets, and by all-yellow flower petals with small red spots. This tree has a bluer cast that its foothills counterpart and is more restricted to plains and margins of dry washes. Both native paloverdes are now classified by some botanists as Parkinsonia species, because of hybridization with the introduced Mexican paloverde (P. aculeata). The blue paloverde has a very brief April-May bloom period most years, but aberrant individuals may make a few floral buds as early as February or as late as October. Most trees bloom synchronously over a 10-day or three-week period, peaking the last week of April. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988". 
  • Seed in pots for transplanting; semi-hardwood treated with indolyl-butyric acid (IBA) rooting hormone and misted/ eliminate weevil infested seeds/Time of planting: spring summer. "Arizona Highways Presents Desert Wildflowers, 1988".
  • Facepaint materials: For red color, the flowers are used. This is one of the few common desert trees in the region which provides ample shade. Blazing yellow masses of flowers appear in spring and a prodigious crop of pods usually ripens in May and June. It is characteristic of major arroyos and drainageways on the mainland and Tiburon Island. The Seri distinguished this species from foothill palo verde as follows: blue palo verde is found in arroyos, while foothill palo verde occurs in the mountains and hills. Blue palo verde is taller. Otherwise they are the same and are similarly used. Adornment: the seeds were strung as necklaces. Firewood: it was used as fuel in the same manner as P. microphylla. Food: the pods usually were gathered from pack rat nests. The seeds were sun dried, toasted, and finely ground, and the flour was mixed with water. The mixture was then cooked and eaten with honey or sea turtle oil. It was a fairly important food and the flour was stored in pottery vessels. The green pods were cooked with meat. The flowers were stripped off the thornless twigs with the fingers. The flowers were prepared in the same manner as for P. microphylla but were not used as extensively. Food Gathering: the wood was used to make the agave chisel-pry bar.. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser."

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