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Neltuma nigra

Prosopis nigra

Also called Black Mesquite, Algarrobo Negro

Neltuma nigra
Photo: Carlos A. Milanesi, Public domain

Neltuma nigra (formerly Prosopis nigra), black mesquite or algarrobo negro, is a leguminous thorny tree from the Gran Chaco of Argentina and Paraguay. It is a drought-adapted species that is grown mainly for its pods and shade in its native dry woodland, and is rarely grown as a houseplant.

Family
Fabaceae (Pea & bean family)
Grows as
Tree, Palm
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply but infrequently; it tolerates long dry spells once established.
Soil
Well-drained, sandy or loamy soil; tolerates poor and alkaline soils.
Temperature
Tolerates hot, dry summers and mild winters; protect young plants below about -5 °C.
How easy
Easy
Edible
Yes, some parts

About

Neltuma nigra (formerly Prosopis nigra) is a South American leguminous tree species that inhabits the Gran Chaco ecoregion (in particular, the transition zone between the Wet Chaco and the Southern Chaco), in Argentina and Paraguay. It is known as algarrobo negro in Spanish, which means "black carob tree" (the Spanish settlers gave it that name, as they did with many other species of genus Prosopis, because of its similarity to the European carob tree). It is also variously called algarrobo dulce, algarrobo morado and algarrobo amarillo ("sweet", "purple" and "yellow" carob tree, respectively).

The tree blossoms in September and October, and gives fruit from November to March. It grows together with the vinalillo tree (Prosopis vinalillo) and under the tops of the palm tree Copernicia alba.

Other Prosopis plants

Algarrobo Blanco · Mesquite · Smooth Mesquite · Jand · Syrian mesquite · Neltuma glandulosa · Prosopis koelziana · Neltuma kuntzei · Neltuma pallida · Strombocarpa pubescens · Strombocarpa strombulifera · Neltuma velutina

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Neltuma nigra 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.

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