n.
Any of several small spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Prosopis in the pea family, native to hot, dry regions of the New World and important as plants for bees and forage for cattle, especially:
- P. glandulosa, native to the southwest United States and northern Mexico. Also called honey mesquite, western honey mesquite.
- P. juliflora, native to the Gulf Coast and Caribbean islands from Mexico to Venezuela. Also called algarroba.
[Spanish mezquite, from Nahuatl mizquitl.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
