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Parkinsonia aculeata
Also called Barbados Flowerfence, Mexican Palo Verde, Palo Verde, Parkinsonia, Wonder Tree, Horse Bean, Retaima
In Singapore: Jerusalem Thorn, Horse Bean, Mexican Palo-Verde, Jellybean Tree, Barbados Flowerfence, Retaima (Grown in Singapore)
Jerusalem thorn is a spiny, fast-growing, drought-tolerant shrub or small tree with feathery leaves and fragrant yellow flowers, valued for dry, hot landscapes. It thrives in full sun and sandy, well-drained soil, and needs little water once established.
Parkinsonia aculeata is a species of perennial flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. Common names include palo verde, Mexican palo verde, Parkinsonia, Jerusalem thorn, jelly bean tree, palo de rayo, and retama.
P. aculeata is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico south to Galapagos Islands and northern Argentina. It has been introduced in Africa, Australia, India, Pakistan and Spain.
In Mexico, the leaves are steeped and made into medicine for fever and epilepsy.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Parkinsonia aculeata by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
