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Fabaceae FAMILY Least Concern

Prosopis laevigata

Prosopis laevigata

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitTree
Growth—

Prosopis laevigata is found in the warm temperate to subtropical zones of southern N. America and southern S. America, extending from there into the low tropics of Mexico and Bolivia. Species in this genus generaly require a sunny position in a well-drained soil[1]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[2].

Propagation

Like many species within the family Fabaceae, once they have ripened and dried the seeds of this species may benefit from scarification before sowing in order to speed up and improve germination. This can usually be done by pouring a small amount of nearly boiling water on the seeds (being careful not to cook them!) and then soaking them for 12 - 24 hours in warm water. By this time they should have imbibed moisture and swollen - if they have not, then carefully make a nick in the seedcoat (being careful not to damage the embryo) and soak for a further 12 hours before sowing[PFAF]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Prosopis+laevigata>

Pollinators

Bees, Insects

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]Nodulation Plants in GRIN Taxonomy — United States Department of Agriculture · http://www.ars-grin.gov/~sbmljw/cgi-bin/taxnodul.pl?language=en ↩︎An online database listing plants that have either positive or negative reports on root and stem nodulation with nitrogen-fixing bacteria.
  3. [3]Journal of the Arnold Arboretum Vol. 57 — Harvard University · 1976 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A botanical magazine, this issue has a comprehensive treatment of the genus Prosopis as well as several other articles. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  4. [4]Flora del Bajío y de Regiones Adyacentes — Jerzy Rzedowski & Graciela Calderón de Rzedowski (Editors) · Instituto de Ecología A.C. Centro Regional del Bajío; Mexico · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ · ISBN 0188-5170 ↩︎Spanish-language flora of northwestern Mexico. It can be downloaded from the Internet
  5. [5]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  6. [6]IUCN Red List of Threatened Species — http://www.iucnredlist.org/ ↩︎A list of plants under threat and facing possible extinction, usually with brief details of the threats and information on habitat.
  7. [7]Phytopharmaceutical Potentials of Prosopis laevigata, Symplocos cochinchinensis and Nymphaea alba; A Review — Matta D.; Nanda H. & Mahalingam G. · 2017 · ISBN 2455-3891 ↩︎
  8. [8]Biblioteca Digital de la Medicina Tradicional Mexicana — http://www.medicinatradicionalmexicana.unam.mx/index.php ↩︎A very valuable on-line resource with detailed information on many hundreds of medicinal plants used in Mexico
  9. [9]Antibacterial and Antibiofilm Activity of Methanolic Plant Extracts against Nosocomial Microorganisms — Sánchez E. et al · 2016 · http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/1572697 ↩︎
  10. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎