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Parkinsonia aculeata L. |
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Leguminosae |
Author: Le Houérou |
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Parkinsonia or Jerusalem thorn; cina-cina (Paraguay), Palo verde. Tall shrub or small short lived tree (15-25 years) of irregular habit reaching up to 10 m. Bark green hence the vernacular name ("palo verde"), very thin, with alternate pinnate leaves and light foliage, providing little shade. Rachis very short, 3-4 mm with 1-2 long pinnae having 20-30 pairs of nearly opposite leaflets, 3-10 mm long, ovate, glabrous and a stout thorn 5-15 mm long with 2 non lignified stipules at the base. Numerous yellow flowers in axillary racemes 15-20 cm long. Corona 25 mm wide with 5 obovate petals one sepal with red spots. Seeds mature in December to January in the Sahel. Pods dehiscent cylindrical, glabrous, straw-yellow when mature up to 18 cm long x 0.5 cm wide, 6 to 10 black shining seeds per pod. Pods marcescent. Extremely hardy and will grow in inland areas where no other trees do well. Can become a pest around watering places. Frost tolerance depends on provenance, but all provenances do tolerate light frost (to -5°C), and some accessions much more (to -15°C). Perhaps the most drought tolerant exotic in the Sahel growing under 400 mm MAR and above, occasionally less. Fairly tolerant to salinity and shallow soils, sensitive to water-logging. Native to southern USA, Mexico and South America. Naturalized in some parts of the Sahel, such as Senegal, Kordofan. Propagation easy by seeds (12,000 per kg) that need to be treated with boiling water, before they germinate. Root and shoot cuttings are successful in nursery. Nursery-grown seedlings are planted out after 6-10 weeks, in the early rainy season. Establishes impenetrable hedges and fences for parks, corrals, backyards, windbreak, street planting and amenity etc. Young shoots may be harvested as forage or directly browsed before they become too hard and woody ; one or two cuttings or browsings per annum would keep the branches and twigs in a juvenile stage amenable to utilization as forage (Le Houérou, 1980 a & c ; Lepape, 1980). Has been reported as toxic in Paraguay, at times containing hydrocyanic acid (Fretes, Samudio and Gay, 1970). The pulp of the pod is rich in sugar (up to 60 %), but yields are not very high. Flowers are visited by bees. Bark, leaves and flowers are used for tea-like infusions to combat fever and atony. Aubréville 1950 ; Kerharo & Adam 1974 ; Berhaut 1975 ; Burkill 1995 ; Catinot 1967 ; Baumer 1975 ; Giffard 1974a ; Giffard 1975 ; Weber et al. 1977 ; Lepape 1980 ; Le Houérou 1980e ; Von Maydell 1983/86 Additional Information by Dr. P. Izaguirre de Artucio |