Prosopis humilis Gillies ex Hook. & Arn.
Fabaceae
Mimosoideae
NOTE: Only one seed of Prosopis humilis was available for examination. Therefore, the description and images in this fact sheet may not be representative of this species’ seeds.
mesquite
Pods linear, compressed, straight or subfalcate; short-stipitate, apex mucronulate, margins barely undulate; 4–10.5 cm long, 8–12 mm wide. Dull, reddish-brown to dark brown; seed chambers visible, (4)7–16. Endocarp segments subquadrate to rhombic, or broader than long, papery to boney, closed, 6–8 mm long, 8–10 mm wide, 3–4 mm thick; mesocarp thin and dry. Seeds oriented longitudinally.
Seeds asymmetrically obovate to rhombic in outline, 6–7.5 mm long, 4–4.9 mm wide, 2–2.8 mm thick, with an umbo, elliptic in cross section. Pleurogram basal, narrow. Lens a yellowish mound.
Seeds have an unusual, relatively small pleurogram.
Argentina
pampas (treeless plains), open semi-xerophytic woodlands, sometimes in rocky or sandy soils
Prosopis humilis is a nearly leafless, spiny, erect to prostrate subshrub, 20–40 cm high. Its peculiar prostrate habit is an oddity. The mesocarp is thin and dry; pods break up into one-seeded segments.