Weeds of Australia - Fact Sheet

Top Scientific Name Synonyms Family Common Names Origin Naturalised Distribution Notes

Scientific Name

Prosopis glandulosa Torr. var. glandulosa

Synonyms

Neltuma glandulosa (Torr.) Britton & Rose
Prosopis chilensis (Molina) Stuntz var. glandulosa (Torr.) Standl.
Prosopis juliflora Sw. (DC.) var. glandulosa (Torr.) Cockerell

Family

Fabaceae: sub-family Mimosoideae (New South Wales)
Leguminosae (South Australia)
Mimosaceae (Queensland, the ACT, Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory)

Common Names

honey mesquite, mesquite, prosopis, Texas Mesquite

Origin

Native to southern USA (i.e. south-western Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, southern California and southern Nevada) and Mexico.

Naturalised Distribution

This species is widely naturalised in Australia, but has a scattered distribution. It is present in many parts of Queensland and well as in northern Western Australia and south-western New South Wales.

Also naturalised overseas in southern Africa, western Asia (i.e. Saudi Arabia), the Indian Sub-continent (i.e. India and Pakistan), south-eastern Asia (i.e. Burma) and tropical Southern America.

Notes

Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa) is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland and Western Australia, and as a potential environmental weed or "sleeper weed" in many other parts of Australia. In addition to this, the mesquites (Prosopis spp.) are one of the 20 Weeds of National Significance (WoNS) in Australia.

Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa var. glandulosa) is listed in the Global Invasive Species Database (GISD), and is regarded to be among the top 100 of the world’s worst invasive alien species.