Robinia neomexicana

Martin and Hutchins 1980, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Common Name: New Mexico locust Duration: Perennial Nativity: Native Lifeform: Tree General: Deciduous shrubs to small trees, from 2-7 m tall; bark light gray to brown, furrowed into scaly ridges with age; twigs brown, stout, covered in glandular hairs, with brown, curved stout paired spines 6-12 mm long at bases of leaves. Leaves: Alternate along stem, pinnately compound, 10-25 cm long; leaflets 15-21, oblong 1.2-4 cm long, 0.6-2.5 cm wide, acute apex; bluish-green, hairy when young, turning yellow in fall. Flowers: Inflorescence in clusters of 3-14 flowers, raceme 5-10 cm long, pedicels, peduncle, and calyces glandular-hispid and puberulent; calyx tube 6-8 mm long, 7-10 mm wide, purplish-pink, pea like. Fruits: Pods 6-10 cm long, 7-10 mm wide, glandular-hispid, oblong and flat. Ecology: Found in both canyons and open woods on a variety of soils from 4,000-8,500 ft (1219-2591 m); flowers May-July. Notes: This shrub is best told apart by its spines, especially when they tear at your flesh. Often found in thickets, particularly in ponderosa communities and after fires. Ethnobotany: Used as an emetic, the pods were cooked, stored, and eaten, flowers eaten raw, branches made good bows and arrows, and they were used in cradleboard construction. Etymology: Robinia named for Jean (1550-1629) and Vespasian (1579-1662) Robin of Paris, gardeners to Henri IV and Louis XIII, while neomexicana means of or from New Mexico. Synonyms: Robinia luxurians, Robinia neomexicana var. luxurians, Robinia neomexicana var. subvelutina Editor: SBuckley, 2010