New Mexico Locust
Robinia neomexicana
Photographed by Mike Plagens along Sycamore Creek in the Pine Mountain Wilderness, Yavapai Co., Arizona, USA. 07 June 2009.
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FLOWERS: Large clusters of pea-flowers in multiple shades of pink
blooming mostly May and June.
LEAVES: Pinnately compound leaves are alternate on the stems. Each leaf
has 9 to 21+ rather thick leaflets and the leaves are deciduous after frost.
TREE: Usually a large shrub or occasionally a small tree reaching
several meters in height. A
champion New Mexico Locust in the Coconino National Forest is
27 meters tall!
RANGE: In Arizona's sycamore woods this plant tends to occur outside the
main channel on the flanks of the canyon walls. It ranges from California to
Texas and is also found on hillsides in ponderosa woodlands.
FRUIT: A thick bean pod with several bean-seeds.
ARMED. Stout and sharp thorns on twigs and smaller branches. When New
Mexico Locust grows in clumps, bushwacking through them becomes a painful
proposition.
A butterfly, the Silver Spotted
Skipper, is almost always found in association with this plant, because the
caterpillar feeds on the leaves.
Fabaceae -- Bean Family
More Information:
- Jepson Manual
- Northern Arizona Flora
- USDA Plant Profile
- ITIS Taxonomic Report
- Google Images
- Google Scholar Literature Search