{"slug":"neltuma-juliflora","scientific_name":"Neltuma juliflora","common_names":["Mesquite","Prosopis","Mathenge","Seemai karuvelam","Vilayati babul","Algarroba"],"family":"Fabaceae","type":"broadleaf_evergreen","mature_height_m":10,"mature_spread_m":10,"growth_rate":"fast","lifespan_years":null,"hardiness_zones":null,"sun":"full","water":"low","soil":"Almost anything from saline flats and sand dunes to rocky hills; tolerates waterlogging and high salinity","native_range":"Native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and northern South America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia); introduced and invasive across Africa, South Asia and Australia. POWO now places it in Neltuma; it is still almost universally listed as Prosopis juliflora.","description":"A thorny, deep-rooted shrub or tree normally about 10 m (to 20 m) that fixes nitrogen, tolerates extreme drought and salinity and produces sweet pods that livestock spread. Planted in the 20th century to fight desertification and supply fuel and charcoal, it has become one of the worst woody invaders of drylands: it has covered over a million hectares of Ethiopia's Afar region, is a declared noxious weed in Kenya (2008), is the subject of repeated Madras High Court eradication orders in Tamil Nadu, and the genus is a Weed of National Significance in Australia. It is often confused with the less aggressive P. pallida, and its charcoal and pod value fuel a management debate.","care":"Do not plant. Control requires removing the root crown or cutting plus immediate herbicide on the stump, because cut stems coppice vigorously; thickets are then kept down by grazing management, fire or utilisation for charcoal. Thorns puncture tyres and cause septic wounds; pods in excess poison livestock. Biocontrol with seed-feeding beetles and a leaf-tying moth helps in Australia and South Africa.","benefits":["nitrogen_fixing","drought_tolerant","salt_tolerant","erosion_control","windbreak"],"uses":["windbreak","agroforestry"],"cautions":["invasive_elsewhere","thorns","large_roots","toxic_parts"],"image_url":"https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Prosopis_juliflora%2C_known_as_the_Velvet_Mesquite_%2810078437503%29.jpg","image_credit":"Wikimedia Commons, file Prosopis_juliflora,_known_as_the_Velvet_Mesquite_(10078437503).jpg (see file page for author and licence)","sources":["https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb2/speciesprofile.php?Spid=1354","https://apps.worldagroforestry.org/treedb/AFTPDFS/Prosopis_juliflora.PDF","https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Prosopis_juliflora_(Prosopis_or_Mesquite).htm","https://weeds.org.au/profiles/mesquite-algaroba/","https://www.downtoearth.org.in/environment/daily-court-digest-major-environment-orders-march-20-2026","https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/saf220858.pdf","https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"],"data_note":null,"updated_at":"2026-11-08T01:00:46.205Z","page_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/neltuma-juliflora","markdown_url":"https://treerm.org/trees/neltuma-juliflora.md","regions":[{"country":"CO","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"EC","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"MX","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"PE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"VE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"native","note":null,"source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"ET","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Invasive across the Afar region and other lowlands; introduced per WCVP; 'devil tree' to pastoralists","source_url":"https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Prosopis_juliflora_(Prosopis_or_Mesquite).htm"},{"country":"IN","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Introduced and naturalised across arid India (Rajasthan, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka) per WCVP; management varies by state","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"IN","region":"TN","locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Madras High Court order of 18 March 2026 directs statewide mechanical removal under the Tamil Nadu Policy on Invasive Plants and Ecological Restoration; private landowners given 30 days","source_url":"https://www.downtoearth.org.in/environment/daily-court-digest-major-environment-orders-march-20-2026"},{"country":"KE","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Declared a noxious weed in 2008 under the Suppression of Noxious Weeds Act (CAP 325); invading Baringo, Tana River and other arid counties","source_url":"https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Prosopis_juliflora_(Prosopis_or_Mesquite).htm"},{"country":"SD","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Introduced per WCVP; widely invasive","source_url":"https://www.gbif.org/species/207090455"},{"country":"TZ","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"Invasive in parts of Tanzania; not declared","source_url":"https://keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/eafrinet/weeds/key/weeds/Media/Html/Prosopis_juliflora_(Prosopis_or_Mesquite).htm"},{"country":"ZA","region":null,"locality":null,"status":"invasive","note":"NEMBA 2020 lists Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana, P. velutina and hybrids (Category 3 in the Northern Cape, pods for fodder exempt in several provinces); P. juliflora itself is not named","source_url":"https://faolex.fao.org/docs/pdf/saf220858.pdf"},{"country":"AU","region":"NT","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Weed of National Significance; Barkly Tablelands","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/mesquite-algaroba/"},{"country":"AU","region":"QLD","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Prosopis spp. are a Weed of National Significance, declared in ACT, NSW, NT, QLD, SA, TAS, VIC and WA","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/mesquite-algaroba/"},{"country":"AU","region":"WA","locality":null,"status":"prohibited","note":"Weed of National Significance; worst infestations in the Pilbara","source_url":"https://weeds.org.au/profiles/mesquite-algaroba/"}],"license":"CC-BY-4.0"}