Prosopis ruizlealii Burkart

Family: Fabaceae,  Subfamily: 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.

Description

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. Lens a mound.

Identification remarks

Similar species

Prosopis denudans Benth. (pod)

Distribution

Argentina.

Habitat

Andes foothills, arid, southern region of Argentina.

General information

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.

For more information about the genus Prosopis, see the Prosopis fact sheet.

Seed

Lens and hilum of seed

Pods

Pod (base broken off)

A, Pod; B, seed; C, longitudinal section of seed showing embryo; D, transection of seed

drawing by Lynda E. Chandler