Neltuma glandulosa

 Neltuma glandulosa (honey mesquite) (mezquite dulce)

Prosopis glandulosa

Fabaceae

• Face paint materials: for black color the sap or pitch seed or mesocarp of fruit powdered was used. ...... The fibers of the pods resulting from the first pounding, were chewed for the sweet flavor and then discarded. Sometimes the fibers were pounded a second time, water added, the fibers sucked, and the pulp discarded. This chewed pulp was sometimes saved, mixed with sugar, toasted and then added to water to make a drink. Sometimes, after the first pounding, a quantity of endocarp with the enclosed seed was put into a pottery vessel with water, weighted down with a stone and left until the water became sweet. This juice was a special treat to the children. Sometimes it was prepared by men, who left it to ferment for several days before drinking it. The dry pods were also placed in a vessel of water, weighted down, and cooked. The pods were then chewed (the inedible portions were spat out), and the broth drunk. When children ate these pods they often did not spit out the seeds, but swallowed them. The seeds caused a specific kind of indigestion. The Seri said that food from the mesquite made the children fat and their skin lighter in color. Mesquite gum is bitter but children liked to chew it, spit it out, and then drink water. They said the water then tasted sweet. The difficulty of separating the true seed from the encasing inedible hard pit, or endocarp, apparently limited the used of the seed in southwestern North America and elsewhere. The prehistoric inhabitants of the Pinacate region in northwestern Sonora devised stone gyratory crushers, which were essentially metates with a hole through the center, although they were worked on both sides of the hole. Similar stone implements have been found elsewhere in Sonora, as well as from ancient times in the Old World. Food Gathering: the wood was used to make a carved spatula-shaped piece which was part of the gathering pole for organ pipe fruit. Food Preparation: both kinds of skewers for barbecuing meat were often made from mesquite. Games: women had a race in which they rolled hoops made of mesquite root strips. Each player had a stick made of Melochia or Vallesia used to roll a hoop.
  this game was similar to the football race of the men. Hunting: the mainshaft of the turtle harpoon was often made of wood from mesquite roots. The club for killing fish and sea turtles was usually made from mesquite. Medicine: tea made from mesquite leaves was drunk as an emetic. Bark of green or young branches was cut into long strips, tied intro rolls, and soaked in water; this liquid was taken as a laxative. A milky sap hardened like resin, was dissolved in water and used as eye drops. The use of mesquite sap for eye drops was widespread in North America. Music: the violin bow was sometimes made of mesquite root wood. The one-string violin was occasionally made from mesquite root driftwood. Oral Tradition: a story relates that coyote was hurriedly making mesquite rope A person who was present said he was going somewhere then vacillated and  decided not to go. Because he delayed, the coyote was able to hang him with the mesquite rope. When someone changed his mind and decided not to go somewhere, he was said to be hung by the coyote. Shelter: the corner posts and roof beams of ramadas and wattle and daub houses were often made of mesquite, and it was sometimes incorporated into brush houses. Other Uses: mesquite wood was commonly used for making a carrying yoke, and a pestle for pounding mesquite pods. The headring was occasionally made from strips of mesquite wood, probably the roots, if Jatropha cuneata was not readily available. Strips of the root were used in the taxidermy of a mule deer or jackrabbit head. To support the ears, strips of mesquite root were sewn along the margins; the strips were removed after the ears had dried and stiffened Rings of mesquite root were sewn onto the base of the head. "People of the Desert and Sea, Ethnobotany of the Seri Indians. Richard Stephen Felger and Mary Beck Moser".

Prosopsis glandulosa var. torreyana

• Although most common in the Sonoran Desert areas of California, honey mesquite extends its range across lower elevations of the Mojave Desert as far north as Death Valley and over huge areas of desert and semi-desert in the southwestern United States and adjacent Mexico. It is a classic phreatophyte with roots that tap groundwater pools as deep as 30 feet or more below the soil surface. In semi-arid grasslands of the southwestern United States with summer rainfall, however, it behaves less like an obligate phreatophyte and readily invades desert grasslands. It must be remembered, however, that plant roots do not grow through dry soil actively seeking out groundwater. Roots will only follow moist fracture zones in soil profiles. Honey mesquite is quite variable in growth form. It may form a broad shrub 20-30 feet in diameter with multiple stems, particularly on dune habitats. Each pinnate leaf of honey mesquite is divided into two clustered sets of oblong-linear leaflets, with paired straight spines at each node. All leaves senesce and are lost in early December. 
• The plants are leafless for about three months until early March, when a cohort of new leaves are formed. Leaf production is not continuous but is constrained to a limited period of weeks and is followed by flowering and pod production in spring. Surprisingly, a second, smaller cohort of leaves and flowers is produced in August under the hottest conditions of the summer. It may seem strange that the honey mesquite should lose its leaves during the winter months -when rainfall is most likely to occur- and form new leaves in the heat of the summer even when it doesn't rain. The reason for this appears to be that the timing of leaf loss and growth arose as adaptations in regions with dry winters  and summer rainfall. 
• Honey mesquite in California still retains ancestral traits that are better suited to conditions present n the rest of its range. As a phreatophyte tapping groundwater for its growth, there is little limitations of water resources for spring and summer growth, and cool winter conditions limit potential photosynthesis. Thus, there have not been sufficient evolutionary pressures on honey mesquite in the winter rainfall regime of California to evolve away from this winter deciduous habit.
• Honey mesquite possesses nitrogen-fixing root nodules, and, with the help of symbiotic bacteria, fixes nitrogen into its root tissue. This is an important aspect of its ecological success. Being phreatophyte and using deep roots to tap groundwater allows mesquite to decouple itself from the limiting factor of water availability. Once water is no longer limiting, nitrogen availability takes over as limiting for growth. With nitrogen-fixing root nodules, however, this limiting factor is also removes-allowing for remarkable rates of productivity by mesquite trees. As mesquite roots die and decompose, they release nitrate-a form of inorganic nitrogen available for plants uptake-which greatly improves soil fertility. Nitrate, which is water soluble, normally leaches out of soils, but dry conditions allow for the buildup of soil nitrate. For this reason, many mesquite stands have been cleared for agriculture in areas where irrigation water can be supplied.
• In many respects, honey mesquite is a keystone desert species. Its broad canopy and high rate of growth provide shade for many animal species. Equally important is its high productivity and ability to fix nitrogen, which allows honey mesquite to produce huge annual crops of protein-reach leaves and pods. These calories provide an important food source for many animal species. Native Americans have long used the pods of the honey mesquite tree for food. Mesquite wood is extremely dense and has been rather overused for fence posts, building materials, and fuel. "Califoria Desert Plants, Philip W Rundel, Robert J Gustafson, Michael E Kauffmann."