Honey mesquite

Where does Honey mesquite grow?

Found in: Africa, Antilles, Arabia, Argentina, Asia, Australia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cape Verde, Central America, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, East Africa, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Grenada, Guatemala, Haiti, Hawaii, Honduras, India, Indochina, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Laos, Lesser Antilles, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mediterranean, Mexico, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, North Africa, North America, Oman, Pacific, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, PNG, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Reunion, Sahel, Saudi Arabia, SE Asia, Senegal, Somalia, South America, Sri Lanka, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Uruguay, United States, Venezuela, Vietnam, Virgin Islands, West Africa, West Indies, Yemen

Notes: Also as Mimosaceae.

Growing Honey mesquite

Cultivation: It grows from seeds. Seeds are sown directly where they are to grow. Seeds are hard to extract from the pod but this can be done by soaking them in water. Seed are easy to store. They can be stored in the pod. It can also be grown by cuttings and suckers.

Edible Uses: The sweetish white pulp of the pod is eaten raw. They are also ground into meal and mixed with water to make a drink. This is drunk immediately but is also allowed to form a pudding or be fermented into beer. The ripe beans can be soaked overnight and baked with molasses and salt pork. The flowers can be eaten raw, roasted or made into tea. The trunks yield a sweet gum used in candy making.

Production: The plant is fast growing. It can be lopped, pruned or shaped. Plants set seed after 3-4 years.

Nutrition Info

References

Ambasta, S.P. (Ed.), 2000, The Useful Plants of India. CSIR India. p 491

Asfaw, Z. and Tadesse, M., 2001, Prospects for Sustainable Use and Development of Wild Food Plants in Ethiopia. Economic Botany, Vol. 55, No. 1, pp. 47-62

Bahru, T., et al, 2013, Wild Edible Plants: Sustainable Use and Management by Indigenous Communities in and the Buffer Area of Awah National Park, Ethiopia. Ethiop. J. Sci., 36(2): 93-108

Bekele-Tesemma A., Birnie, A., & Tengnas, B., 1993, Useful Trees and Shrubs for Ethiopia. Regional Soil Conservation Unit. Technical Handbook No 5. p 370

Bernholt, H. et al, 2009, Plant species richness and diversity in urban and peri-urban gardens of Niamey, Niger. Agroforestry Systems 77:159-179

Blamey, M and Grey-Wilson, C., 2005, Wild flowers of the Mediterranean. A & C Black London. p 80

Bunderson, W. T. et al, 2002, Common Agroforestry Species in Malawi. Malawi Agroforestry Extension Project, Pubication No. 46, Lilongwe. p 21

Condit, R., et al, 2011, Trees of Panama and Costa Rica. Princeton Field Guides. p 210

Dharani, N., 2002, Field Guide to common Trees & Shrubs of East Africa. Struik. p 253

Facciola, S., 1998, Cornucopia 2: a Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications, p 153

Flora of Australia Volume 12, Mimosaceae (excl. Acacia) Caesalpiniaceae. Melbourne: CSIRO Australia (1998) p 9

Flora of Pakistan. www.eFloras.org

Forest Genetic Resources Situation in Mexico, FAO 2012 Annex 15 p 287

French, B.R., 1986, Food Plants of Papua New Guinea, A Compendium. Asia Pacific Science Foundation p 379

Grandtner, M. M., 2008, World Dictionary of Trees. Wood and Forest Science Department. Laval University, Quebec, Qc Canada. (Internet database http://www.wdt.qc.ca)

Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 534

Grubben, G. J. H. and Denton, O. A. (eds), 2004, Plant Resources of Tropical Africa 2. Vegetables. PROTA, Wageningen, Netherlands. p 564

Hall, N. et al, 1972, The Use of Trees and Shrubs in the Dry Country of Australia, AGPS, Canberra. p 414

Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 517

Katende, A.B., Birnie, A & Tengnas B., 1995, Useful Trees and Shrubs for Uganda. Identification, Propagation and Management for Agricultural and Pastoral Communities. Technical handbook No 10. Regional Soil Conservation Unit, Nairobi, Kenya. p 512

Kebebew, M. & Leta, G., 2016, Wild Edible Plant Bio-diversity and Utilization System in Nech Sar National Park, Ethiopia. International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management 2016, 7(4):885-896

Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 704

Kiple, K.F. & Ornelas, K.C., (eds), 2000, The Cambridge World History of Food. CUP p 1813

Krishen P., 2006, Trees of Delhi, A Field Guide. DK Books. p 278

Lazarides, M. & Hince, B., 1993, Handbook of Economic Plants of Australia, CSIRO. p 198

Loughmiller, C & L., 1985, Texas Wildflowers. A Field Guide. University of Texas, Austin. p 135

Lulekal, E., et al, 2011, Wild edible plants in Ethiopia: a review on their potential to combat food insecurity. Afrika Focus - Vol. 24, No 2. pp 71-121

Mahony, D., 1991, Trees of Somalia. A Field Guide for Development Workers. Oxfam Research Paper 3. p 9

Majeed, M., et al, 2021, Gathered Wild Food Plants among Diverse Religious Groups in Jhelum District, Punjab, Pakistan. Foods 2021, 10, 594.

Martin, F. W., et al, 1987, Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics. USDA Handbook 642 p 99

Massal, E. and Barrau, J., 1973, Food Plants of the South Sea Islands. SPC Technical Paper No 94. Noumea, New Caledonia. p 42

Maydell, H. von, 1990, Trees and shrubs of the Sahel: their characteristics and uses. Margraf. p 357

Mbuya, L.P., Msanga, H.P., Ruffo, C.K., Birnie, A & Tengnas, B., 1994, Useful Trees and Shrubs for Tanzania. Regional Soil Conservation Unit. Technical Handbook No 6. p 410

Menninger, E.A., 1977, Edible Nuts of the World. Horticultural Books. Florida p 99

Paczkowska, G . & Chapman, A.R., 2000, The Western Australian Flora. A Descriptive Calatogue. Western Australian Herbarium. p 330

Phillips, D.C., 1988, Wild Flowers of Bahrain. A Field Guide to Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees. Privately published. p 41

Plants of Haiti Smithsonian Institute http://botany.si.edu/antilles/West Indies

Prodr. 2:447. 1825

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (1999). Survey of Economic Plants for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (SEPASAL) database. Published on the Internet; http://www.rbgkew.org.uk/ceb/sepasal/internet [Accessed 28th April 2011]

Sasi, R. & Rajendran, A., 2012, Diversity of Wild Fruits in Nilgiri Hills of the Southern Western Ghats - Ethnobotanical Aspects. IJABPT, 3(1) p 82-87

Saunders, C.F., 1948, Edible and Useful Wild Plants. Dover. New York. p 61

Segura, S., et al, 2018, The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2018) 65:1767–1793

Staples, G.W. and Herbst, D.R., 2005, A tropical Garden Flora. Bishop Museum Press, Honolulu, Hawaii. p 323

Sujanapal, P., & Sankaran, K. V., 2016, Common Plants of Maldives. FAO & Kerala FRI, p 220

Sukarya, D. G., (Ed.) 2013, 3,500 Plant Species of the Botanic Gardens of Indonesia. LIPI p 471

Timyan, J., 1996, Bwa Yo: Important Trees of Haiti. South-East Consortium for International Development. Washington. p 3

Van den Eynden, V., et al, 2003, Wild Foods from South Ecuador. Economic Botany 57(4): 576-603

Verdcourt, B., 1979, Manual of New Guinea Legumes. Botany Bulletin No 11, Division of Botany, Lae, Papua New Guinea. p 141

www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/treedb/