Prosopis L.

Trees or shrubs, armed or rarely unarmed. Leaves bipinnate, the pinnae 1 to several pairs, opposite, the leaflets few or many pairs per pinna; petiole prominent, usually glandular; rachis present or obsolete; leaflets generally small, glabrous or less frequently pubescent; stipules small, caducous, modified as spines, or in some species apparently lacking. Inflorescence of axillary, pedunculate heads, spikes, or even racemes. Flowers small, 5-parted, sessile or substipitate, yellowish or whitish; calyx synsepalous, usually shallowly and distantly dentate; petals free or connate near the middle; glabrous or pilose within; stamens normally 10, free, exserted; anthers comparatively large, bearing terminally a small or moderate, often caducous gland; ovary pubescent or glabrous, the style stout, the stigma small. Legume very variable, linear to spiral, flat or turgid, indehiscent, with a pulpy mesocarp, the endocarp septate or not septate.

Introduced for their perceived benefits as soil stabilisers for areas prone to erosion, and as food sources and shelter for livestock. Some species have since become serious pests in pastoral areas of Western Australia and to a lesser extent in Queensland and Northern Territory. Includes commercially and traditionally important species, particularly for medical uses. Also for food, land reclamation and erosion control, adhesives from the gum, wood products, paper from the wood fibre, and other uses.