Arizona Wild Flowers
Wildflower Pictures And Photos

Foothill Palo Verde,
Parkinsonia (Cercidium) microphyllum

Foothill Palo Verde, Parkinsonia (Cercidium) microphyllum Photo Taken May 4, 2005 At Phoenix.

Foothill Palo Verde Flower The White Petal (Banner) Is A Distinguishing Feature!	Blue Palo Verde Flower No White Petal (Banner) Is A Distinguishing Feature!
Mexican Palo Verde Flower The Orange Petal (Banner) Is A Distinguishing Feature!	Foothill Have Few Thorns But, Stems Become Thorns A Distinguishing Feature!
Foothill Grow To About 20' High Have More Yellowish Bark Duller Yellow/White Flowers	Foothill Have Short Thorns Spaced Short Distance From Each Other
Foothill, Yellow or Littleleaf Palo Verde (Parkinsonia (Cercidium) microphyllum) Note: The White Banner Petals!	Palo Verde Is Spanish For Green Wood Or Stick, Which References The Green Branches And The Trunk
Foothill Species Have More Abundant Leaves Growing On Longer Stems Flowers Produce Pollen For Bees Very Little Honey	Foothill Palo Verde Leaves Bipinnately Compound With Five To Seven Pairs Of Elliptical Leaflets Seen Here!
Foothill, Yellow or Littleleaf Palo Verde Yellow-Green Bark	The Trunk Sometimes Has Gray Scars On It.

Foothill Palo Verde Parkinsonia (Cercidium) microphyllum, Pea Family ( Leguminosae ), Sometimes: Legume Family ( Fabaceae ), Foothill Palo Verde. Also called littleleaf palo verde, yellow palo verde, horsebean, palo verde, lebón retama, or palo brea (tar stick). An Arizona native desert tree with spectacular yellow spring bloom and light green trunks. Foothill palo verde is a multitrunked, deciduous, large shrub or small tree to about 15 feet tall, rarely to 30 feet in deep soils. The yellowish-green branches are stiff and strongly upright, not drooping as in blue palo verde. Leaves are twice-pinnate, each fork bearing 3 to 5 pairs of tiny leaflets. Foliage is sparse even at the peak of the rainy season, and absent during the dry season. There are no spines beneath the leaves as in blue palo verde, but each twig terminates in a thorn. The tree flowers profusely for about 2 weeks in spring, beginning just as blue palo verdes in the same area are finishing. Flowers are not as bright than those of blue palo verde; the petals are pale yellow and the top banner petal is white. The seed pods contain 2 to 4 or more navy-bean sized seeds with thinner, softer shells than those of blue palo verde. Foothill palo verde is also more drought resistant than blue palo verde and it is not restricted to washes and it is common on rocky hillsides. These very slow-growing trees are more than a century old at maturity, and desert ecologist, Forest Shreve, says that they could live up to 400 years. Humans have also relied on the seeds for food; crops are abundant in most years. The O’odham preferred to eat the green seeds or pods; young seeds are tender and taste much like fresh peas. The Seri ate the fresh green seeds and also toasted, ground, and ate the mature seeds in a gruel. They usually raided pack rat nests to obtain the mature pods, and then winnowed the seeds. Four species of palo verde grow in the Sonoran Desert and sometimes naturally hybridize. This often makes it difficult to find plants that are not hybridized. Foothill palo verde hybridizes fairly commonly with Mexican palo verde (Parkinsonia) where both species grow in proximity to each other. Note: Mexican palo verde (Parkinsonia aculeata) has one bright orange petal ( Banner ) instead of a white petal ( Banner ) as the Foothill Palo Verde displays. Height: Up to about 15 - 20 feet. Rarely up to 25 - 30 feet. Flowers: Pale yellow with five petals but, with one being a white petal (banner), pistils may be red - brown. Blooming Time: May - June. Stems/Trunks : About one foot in diameter. The branches and most of the main trunk are smooth and slightly yellow-green in contrast to the Blue Palo Verde. There are no spines beneath the leaves as in blue palo verde, but each twig terminates in a thorn. Leaves: Leaves are twice-pinnate, normally each fork bearing 3 to 5 pairs of tiny leaflets. Sometimes; each leaf will have one pair of major leaflets and 5 to 7 pairs of minor leaflets.Yellowish green in color, 1/16" to 3/4" long; Seed Pod: A dark brown to black, woody seed capsule four to six inches long, maturing in mid to late summer. hanging on till late spring the next year. Seeds are dark red - brown. Seeds: Smooth hard seeds are only slightly flattened with 2 to 7 found in each pod. Elevation: 500 - 4000 Feet. Habitat: Not restricted to washes and is common on rocky hillside, mesas, plains, and deserts. Miscellaneous: Flowering Photos Taken May 4, 2005 At Phoenix.