• GENERAL DISTRIBUTION
• ECOSYSTEMS
• STATES
• BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS
• KUCHLER PLANT ASSOCIATIONS
• SAF COVER TYPES
• SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES
• HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES

GENERAL DISTRIBUTION:

The typical variety of honey mesquite is distributed from southwestern Kansas, western Oklahoma, and Louisiana, and most of Texas west to New Mexico and south to Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila, Mexico [74,101,116]. Western honey mesquite occurs in western Texas, southern New Mexico, southeastern and western Arizona, extreme southwestern Utah, southern Nevada, southern California, and northern Mexico [92,111]. Prosopis glandulosa var. prostrata occurs in Texas [101].

Before the introduction of livestock by European settlers, the geographic ranges of North American mesquites were probably more distinct. Since livestock effectively disperse the seeds, mesquites have increased their abundance across the Southwest since settlement times, and many species' ranges have changed [92,100]. The ranges of the typical variety of honey mesquite and western honey mesquite overlap in western Texas, eastern New Mexico, and northeastern Mexico [139], but for the most part honey mesquite occurs east of the Pecos River, while western honey mesquite is more prevalent west of the Pecos River [91,95]. Along the Rio Grande River near El Paso, Texas, honey mesquite, western honey mesquite, and velvet mesquite all occur together [20]. Western honey mesquite is the most common mesquite in the Trans-Pecos Region of Texas [137]. Isolated populations of the typical variety occur in southeastern Arizona, southern California, and near Shreveport Louisiana, all thought to be introductions, possibly from livestock-dispersed seed along railways or stage routes, or by other human introductions [20,91,92,95]. Similar isolated populations of western honey mesquite occur in the San Joaquin Valley, California [21,89].

ECOSYSTEMS [66]:

STATES:

BLM PHYSIOGRAPHIC REGIONS [22]:

KUCHLER [107] PLANT ASSOCIATIONS:

SAF COVER TYPES [54]:

SRM (RANGELAND) COVER TYPES [159]:

HABITAT TYPES AND PLANT COMMUNITIES:

Rio Grande Plains of southwestern Texas: Honey mesquite is often codominant with mixed-brush species like huisachillo (Acacia tortuosa), blackbrush acacia (Acacia rigidula), guajillo (Acacia berlandieri), spiny hackberry (Celtis pallida), lotebush, desert yaupon (Schaefferia cuneifolia), lime pricklyash, Texas persimmon (Diospyros texana), and bluewood. Common grasses include little bluestem, Texas grama (Bouteloua rigidiseta), yellow foxtail (Setaria geniculata), bristle grass (Setaria spp.), hooded windmill grass (Chloris cucullata), thin paspalum (Paspalum setaceum), and buffalograss (Buchloe dactyloides) [13,28,71,85,151]. Brown [32] describes communities in small basins in the Rio Grande area where honey mesquite, longleaf ephedra (Ephedra trifurca), and soaptree yucca (Yucca elata) are the dominant shrubs and the understory is composed of buffalograss and dropseed grasses. These communities are frequently located around the edge of ancient lake beds.

Western Texas and New Mexico: Honey mesquite and western honey mesquite are often associated with more xeric species, including allthorn (Koeberlimia spinosa), Gregg catclaw (Acacia greggii), fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens), tarbush (Flourensia cernua), and catclaw mimosa (Mimosa biuncifera). Associated grasses include black grama (Bouteloua eriopoda), sideoats grama (B. curtipendula), mesa dropseed (Sporobolus flexuosus), threeawns (Aristida spp.), burro grass (Scleropogon brevifolius), tobosagrass (Pleuraphis mutica), and curlymesquite (Hilaria belangeri) [37,85,151].

Edwards Plateau of central Texas: Honey mesquite is often part of a brushy overstory composed of Ashe juniper (Juniperus ashei), redberry juniper (J. pinchotii), Texas persimmon, live oak (Q. virginiana), sandpaper oak (Q. pungens. var. vaseyana), or post oak (Q. stellata) [71,151]. Grasses in these communities include curly mesquite, threeawns, sideoats grama, hairy tridens (Erinoneuron pilosum), tussock grass, red grama (Bouteloua trifida), and sedges (Carex spp.) [118].

High Plains of northwestern Texas and the Oklahoma Panhandle: These areas were once characteristically free of trees and shrubs, but honey mesquite now dominates many areas. Brush associates include lotebush, agarito (Berberis trifoliolata), plains prickly-pear (Opuntia polyacantha), soapweed yucca (Yucca glauca), cholla (Opuntia spp.), and redberry juniper. Associated grasses include buffalograss, sideoats grama, tobosagrass, and little bluestem [71,85,151].

East-central Texas: Honey mesquite is often found in post oak (Quercus stellata) savannas. Common associates in these savannas include blackjack oak (Q. marilandica), water oak (Q. nigra), sugarberry (Celtis laevigata), honey-locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), hawthorn (Crataegus spp.), common persimmon (Diospyros virginiana), eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana), gum bumelia (Bumelia lanuginosa), skunkbush sumac (Rhus trilobata), and winged elm (Ulmus alata) [151].

Western honey mesquite communities: Drainageways in the Mojave and Sonoran deserts are the primary habitat for western honey mesquite. In these habitats western honey mesquite is commonly associated with quailbush (Atriplex lentiformis), palo verde (Cercidium floridum), desert willow (Chilopsis linearis), Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii), saltcedar (Tamarix ramosissima), and Goodding willow (Salix gooddingii) [32,127,131,145]. More information is provided in "Vegetation types" below.

Riparian habitats: Honey mesquite often occurs in riparian habitats in either pure stands or mixed with other species. Pure stands typically are many-aged and occur along the outer floodplain as honey mesquite is not particularly flood tolerant [145]. In riparian honey mesquite communities, often called bosques, the plants' growth form is more arborescent, growing up to approximately 50 feet (15 m) tall [60]. In riparian woodlands dominated by junipers, oaks, Texas persimmon, netleaf hackberry (Celtis reticulata), cedar-elm (Ulmus crassifolia), or Berlandier ash (Fraxinus berlandiearana), honey mesquite is often scattered with densities ranging from 12 to 24 plants per acre (30-60/ha.) [175,183,184].  

Vegetation types: Classifications describing plant communities in which the typical variety of honey mesquite is a dominant species are:

Classifications describing plant communities in which western honey mesquite is a dominant species are:

The following classifications do not specify variety in their community descriptions:

Henrickson and Johnston [83] classified vegetation of the "Chihuahuan Desert region" into 16 community types. Honey mesquite (variety not specified) was a component in 5 of these communities. These communities are listed below with their estimated area and common associates.

Related categories for SPECIES: Prosopis glandulosa | Honey Mesquite