Welcome to Catnapin's

Tree and Shrub Gallery

Miscellaneous - Legume Family

Fabaceae (Leguminosae) - Legume family

Honey Mesquite Prosopis glandulosa

It takes generations for these sprawling trees to grow 30 feet tall and have a trunk 3 feet wide.  Large tree trunks are often multiple trees that grew together.  One section can die and the rest will continue living.  Cut trunks will sprout new limbs, sometimes from the root.  Re-growth from cut saplings makes the plant very bushy.  The bark is smooth and red in new growth turning brown and very rough in old.  Flower stalk about 1/2" wide and 4" long.  Beans grow up to 5" long and are edible.  This tree was spread across Texas by cattle.  It is not native to the prairies.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, May-July 2004

(Native of Texas)

Fabaceae (Leguminosae) - Legume family

Golden-ball Lead-tree Leucaena retusa

Tree about 15 feet all.  Puff ball flower about 1" wide.  Curved pod about 10" long.  Leaf about 8" long with very large leaflets.  Eaten by cattle.

Photos taken in Val Verde County, Texas, August 2005

(Native of south Texas)

Fabaceae (Leguminosae) - Legume family

Redbud Cercis canadensis

Blooms in early spring before leaves come out.  Tree shown is about 15 feet tall, they can grow to about 40 feet tall.  Dark brown, smooth bark.  Flowers are 1/4"-3/8" long in large clusters.  It takes 5 years before the the trees bear dark brown bean pods.  Redbud bark can be used as an astringent in the treatment of dysentery.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, June 2004, flower March 2005

(Native of Texas)

Fabaceae (Leguminosae) - Legume family

Bird-of-Paradise Caesalinia gilliesii

Flower stalk about 5" tall.  Each bloom produces long red treads.  Bush grows to about 6 feet tall.  Without flowers, this plant resembles a Mesquite tree sapling.

Photos taken in Taylor County, Texas, April 2004

(Naturalized from South America)

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