''Neltuma pallida'' (formerly ''Prosopis pallida'') is a species of

mesquite Mesquite is a common name for some plants in the genera ''Neltuma'' and '' Strombocarpa'', which contain over 50 species of spiny, deep-rooted leguminous shrubs and small trees. They are native to dry areas in the Americas. Until 2022, these ge ...

tree. It has the common names kiawe () (in Hawaii), huarango (in its native South America) and American carob, as well as "bayahonda" (a generic term for ''Prosopis''), "algarrobo pálido" (in some parts of Ecuador and Peru), and "algarrobo blanco" (usually used for ''

Prosopis alba ''Neltuma alba'' (formerly ''Prosopis alba'') is a South American tree species that grows in central Argentina, the Gran Chaco ecoregion, and part of the Argentine Mesopotamia, as well as Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, and Peru. It is known as ''alg ...

''). It is a thorny

legume Legumes are plants in the pea family Fabaceae (or Leguminosae), or the fruit or seeds of such plants. When used as a dry grain for human consumption, the seeds are also called pulses. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for human consum ...

, native to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

, particularly drier areas near the coast. While threatened in its native habitat, it is considered an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

in many other places.

Description

The kiawe is a spreading bush or moderately sized tree, bearing spines, spikes of greenish-yellow

flower Flowers, also known as blooms and blossoms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants ( angiosperms). Typically, they are structured in four circular levels, called whorls, around the end of a stalk. These whorls include: calyx, m ...

s, and long pods filled with small brown

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

s. It is a successful invasive species due to its ability to reproduce in two ways: production of large numbers of easily dispersed seeds, and suckering to create thick monotypic stands that shade out nearby competing plants. It survives well in dry environments due to a long

taproot A taproot is a large, central, and dominant root from which other roots sprout laterally. Typically a taproot is somewhat straight and very thick, is tapering in shape, and grows directly downward. In some plants, such as the carrot, the taproot ...

which can reach deep watertables. It is so efficient at extracting moisture from soil that it can kill nearby plants by depriving them of water, as well as by shading them out. It can be found in areas where other plants do not grow, such as sandy, dry, degraded slopes, salty soils, disturbed areas, and rocky cliffs.

Human uses

The tree grows quickly and can live for over a millennium. It makes a good shade tree, if one does not mind the nasty thorns of the fallen branches. Its hard wood is a source of long-burning firewood and

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, ca ...

. Kiawe pods can be used as

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

fodder, ground into flour, turned into

molasses Molasses () is a viscous byproduct, principally obtained from the refining of sugarcane or sugar beet juice into sugar. Molasses varies in the amount of sugar, the method of extraction, and the age of the plant. Sugarcane molasses is usuall ...

or used to make

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

. The light yellow flowers attract

bee Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyletic lineage within the superfamil ...

s, which produce from them a sought-after white

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

Hazards to humans

Fallen Kiawe branches usually contain sharp spines that can puncture both feet and tires.

Status as an invasive species in Hawaii

At times the tree was used to replace forest and prevent

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...

, and once it was established it generally dominates the habitat. It was introduced to

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

and Hawaii as well as

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

and Queensland in Australia and is now naturalized in those places. The first kiawe was planted in Hawaii in 1828; today it is a ubiquitous shade tree and invasive weed on the

Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...

, but provides

firewood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not heavily processed, and is in some sort of firelog, recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellet fuel, pellets. ...

for heating and cooking.

Collapse of the Nazca culture

The clearing of kiawe (''huarango'') has been suggested as a major reason for the collapse of the

Nazca culture The Nazca culture (also Nasca) was the archaeological culture that flourished from beside the arid, southern coast of Peru in the river valleys of the Nazca, Rio Grande de Nazca drainage and the Ica Valley.''The Nasca'' by Helaine Silverman an ...

in southern Peru at the beginning of the 6th century AD after an

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

event led to flooding,

and

desertification Desertification is a type of gradual land degradation of Soil fertility, fertile land into arid desert due to a combination of natural processes and human activities. The immediate cause of desertification is the loss of most vegetation. This i ...

Importance in the desert ecosystem

Ecologists consider the huarango important to the ecosystem of the desert area west of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

in southern Peru, because of its ability to bind moisture and counter erosion. Despite prohibitions by regional authorities, poor villagers continue to harvest the trees to make charcoal. Efforts are under way to reforest the area with huarangos.

Genetic variability

In the southwest of Ecuador, ''Prosopis pallida'' and '' Prosopis juliflora'' both display substantial genetic variability due to the ( intraspecific) cross-pollination of their self-incompatible flowers which are typical of the genus ''Prosopis''. As a result, trees of these species display a range of physical traits that lead to trees of one species resembling descriptions of the other, and the two species are often confused. To compound the difficulty in discerning the species of a given tree, these two species hybridise readily where their ranges overlap. In the

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a aridity, dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below Evapotranspiration#Potential evapotranspiration, potential evapotranspiration, but not as l ...

Zapotillo Canton of Ecuador, both thorn-bearing and thornless strains of ''Prosopis pallida'' exist with thorn-bearing trees being more common. It is the preferred tree of the local people for making charcoal and is sometimes also cut for firewood or fence posts.

History

The first specimen in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

was planted from a seed brought by missionary Alexis Bachelot from the

Palais-Royal The Palais-Royal () is a former French royal palace located on Rue Saint-Honoré in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. The screened entrance court faces the Place du Palais-Royal, opposite the Louvre Palace, Louvre. Originally called the Palais-Ca ...

Gardens in 1828.

Photos

File:Starr_010206-0227_Prosopis_pallida.jpg, Flower File:Starr 010818-0027 Prosopis pallida.jpg, Pods Image:N Prop S0162.jpg, Spines and leaves Image:Starr_031115-0006_Prosopis_pallida.jpg, Wood File:Starr_010206-0226_Prosopis_pallida.jpg File:Starr 010818-0032 Prosopis pallida.jpg File:Starr 070206-4122 Prosopis pallida.jpg File:Organic white honey.jpg, White honey

References

External links

Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk

project by

Kew Gardens Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1759, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...

Invasive Species Remedy

Prosopis pallida (mesquite) CABI Invasive Species Compendium
{{Authority control

pallida This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages to understand and remember the scientific names of organisms. The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants ...

Plants described in 1823 Trees of Bolivia Trees of Colombia Trees of Ecuador Trees of Peru Hawaiian cuisine Fodder Taxa named by Aimé Bonpland Taxa named by Alexander von Humboldt Nazca culture Drought-tolerant trees Species that are or were threatened by logging for charcoal Species that are or were threatened by logging for firewood