Robinia neomexicana
Robinia neomexicana | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Subfamily: | Faboideae |
Genus: | Robinia |
Species: | R. neomexicana
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Binomial name | |
Robinia neomexicana | |
Natural range |
Robinia neomexicana, the New Mexican, New Mexico, Southwest, desert, pink, or rose locust, is a shrub or small tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the family Fabaceae.
Distribution
Robinia neomexicana is native to the Southwestern United States (southeastern California and southwestern Utah, Virgin River region,[2] east through Arizona and New Mexico, the Rio Grande valley, to far west Texas) and adjoining northern Mexico; from central New Mexico the range extends north into Colorado, mostly the eastern foothills of the Rocky Mountains. In Arizona, it ranges across the Arizona transition zone, the Mogollon Rim and White Mountains, and into western and southwestern New Mexico.[2]
In
Description
Robinia neomexicana grows to 5–10 m tall (rarely to 15 m) with bristly shoots. The leaves are 10–15 cm long, pinnate with 7–15 leaflets; they have a pair of sharp, reddish-brown thorns at the base. The flowers are showy and white or pink, and considered fragrant.[5] Blooms are produced in spring or early summer in dense racemes 5–10 cm long that hang from the branches near the ends.[3][4] The fruits are brown bean-like pods with bristles like those on the shoots.[4]
Uses
In New Mexico, Pueblo Native Americans traditionally ate the flowers uncooked.[6] The pods were also eaten raw and cooked by some Native Americans, such as the Mescalero and Chiricahua Apache.[7]
Mule deer, cattle, and goats browse the plant foliage. Cattle also eat the plant's flowers.[8] Squirrels and quail eat the locust's seeds.[4]
References
- . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ OCLC 4053799.
- ^ a b "Jepson Manual Treatment". University of California. 1993. Retrieved 2008-06-18.
- ^ ISBN 0-911408-41-X.
- ^ "Fragrant Flowers and Plants – Southeastern Arizona Wildflowers and Plants".
- OCLC 32501881.
- Bonanza Books. p. 592.
- ISBN 0394507614.
External links
- Media related to Robinia neomexicana at Wikimedia Commons
- USDA Plants Profile: Robinia neomexicana
- Jepson Manuel Treatment - Robinia neomexicana