Prosopis ruizlealii Burkart
Fabaceae
Mimosoideae
NOTE: Only one seed of Prosopis ruizlealii was available for examination. Therefore, the description and images in this fact sheet may not be representative of this species’ seeds.
mesquite
Pods linear-oblong, straight to falcate, subcompressed, 5–17 cm long, 9–16 mm wide, 4–7 mm thick. Short-stipitate, apex mucronate, margins nearly straight. Dark reddish or nearly black, veins obscure. Endocarp segments subquadrate to obliquely ovate, boney, closed, 8–12 mm long and wide, 5–8 mm thick; mesocarp pulpy-fibrous or mealy. Seeds oriented longitudinally.
Seeds obovate to asymmetrically obovate in outline, 6–8 mm long, 3.7–5 mm wide, 2.7–4 mm thick, umbo indistinct, elliptic in cross section. Pleurogram average in size. Lens a mound.
Prosopis denudans Benth. (Pod is similar.)
Argentina
Andes foothills, arid, southern region of Argentina
Prosopis ruizlealii is a spiny shrub, 0.6–3 m tall. It is closely related to P. denudans, of which it is possibly not more than a more robust, northern subspecies.