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screwbean mesquite Fabaceae Prosopis pubescens Benth. Listen to the Latin Print a QR link to this factsheet symbol: PRPU
Leaf: Alternate, bipinnately compound, 1 to 2 inches long, usually with only two major leaflets (may occasionally have 2 to 3 pairs), each leaflet with 6 to 9 pairs of narrow minor leaflets (1/2 to 1 inch long) with entire margins and a fuzzy surface, green to gray-green above, paler below.
Flower: Small pale yellow to yellow-green in 2 to 3 inch long slender spikes in groups of 2 to 6, appearing late spring to early summer.
Fruit: A very unique, tightly coiled legume, 1 to 2 inches long, light brown, ripening in mid to late summer.
Twig: Light reddish brown, slightly zigzag with obvious paired slender spines (up to 1 inch long) at the base of each leaf, spine is nearly white, knobby spur branches may also be present.
Bark: Very distinct, rough shreddy to scaly, outer older bark gray-brown, newer bark reddish brown.
Form: A thicket forming small tree to large shrub (up to 20 feet), typically with several crooked and arching stems forming a broad round crown.
 Looks like: honey mesquite - velvet mesquite - catclaw acacia

screwbean mesquite leaf image
screwbean mesquite flower image
screwbean mesquite fruit image
screwbean mesquite twig image
screwbean mesquite bark image
screwbean mesquite form image
screwbean mesquite map image

Additional Range Information: Prosopis pubescens is native to North America. Range may be expanded by planting. Download the full-size PDF map.
External Links: USDAFS FEIS Silvics - USDA Plants Database - USDAFS Forest Products Lab
All material 2025 Virginia Tech Dept. of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation; Photos and text by: John Seiler, Edward Jensen, Alex Niemiera, and John Peterson; Silvics reprinted from Ag Handbook 654; range map source information