Paloverde. Foothill palo verde. Small-leaved palo verde
Cercidium microphyllum

Family: Fabaceae

What it is like

Parkinsonia microphylla is a spiny, deciduous shrub or a small tree usually growing to 4m. The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a source of food, and has potential for use as a protein supplement. It is sometimes grown as an ornamental in semi-arid regions. Also known as Parkinsonia microphylla.

Cercidium microphyllum is a deciduous Tree growing to 4 m (13ft) by 6 m (19ft) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 9. Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, prefers well-drained soil and can grow in nutritionally poor soil. Suitable pH: mildly acid, neutral and basic (mildly alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers dry or moist soil and can tolerate drought.

Height (m): 4

Where it is found

Native to the American southwest, Baja and Sonora, Mexico. It grows on rocky slopes, desert foothills and mesas. Coarse soils of plains and hillslopes; mainly at elevations up to 600 metres, occasionally reaching 800 metres.

Southwestern N. America - California, Arizona, northern Mexico

Conservation Status: This taxon has not yet been assessed

Countries/locations it is found in

Mexico, North America, USA.

How it is used

Food

Rating: 3

Edible Portion: Seeds, Pods, Flowers. Seeds - cooked. The dried beans were roasted (often until almost burnt) then ground into a powder and made into a mush or into cakes. Usually viewed as a famine food and only used when better foods were not available. The seeds are rich in protein (they contain around 22% protein, 50% carbohydrate and 18% fat) and have potential for use as a human food. The dried, powdered seed has a digestibility rating of 76%, increasing to 85% when cooked - this is higher than for many of the commonly eaten legume foods. The seeds do contain antinutritional factors, including trypsin inhibitors, phenols, alkaloids and haemagglutinin, but these are not present in high enough concentration to constitute a major nutritional problem. These antinutritional factors are soluble in saline solutions and can be removed by soaking or during cooking. The seedpods are 35 - 110mm long and 7 - 9mm wide, containing 1 - 4, brown, sub-globose seeds 8 - 10mm long and 5 - 7mm wide. Carbon Farming Solutions - Staple Crop: protein (The term staple crop typically refers to a food that is eaten routinely and accounts for a dominant part of people's diets in a particular region of the world).

Seed: includes nuts, cereals, peas and beans.

Seedpod: things such as Okra, French and Runner beans.

Medicine

Rating: 0

Other

Rating: 2

The wood is hard and heavy. Landscape Use: Xeric and/or native desert gardens as a small multi-branched tree or large background shrub. The Seri people, a Native American group of northwestern Mexico, call this tree ziipxöl; They strung the seeds for necklaces.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Staple Crop: Protein: (16+ percent protein, 0-15 percent oil). Annuals include beans, chickpeas, lentils, cowpeas, and pigeon peas. Perennials include perennial beans, nuts, leaf protein concentrates, and edible milks.

Wild Staple Crop: Some wild plants have strong historical or contemporary use. Although they are not cultivated crops, they may be wild-managed.

Management: Standard: Plants grow to their standard height. Harvest fruit, seeds, or other products. Non-Destructive management systems.

Staple Crop: Protein: (16+ percent protein, 0-15 percent oil). Annuals include beans, chickpeas, lentils, cowpeas, and pigeon peas. Perennials include perennial beans, nuts, leaf protein concentrates, and edible milks.

Wild Staple Crop: Some wild plants have strong historical or contemporary use. Although they are not cultivated crops, they may be wild-managed.

Carbon Farming: Plants that can be a critical part of the solution to climate problems. The Carbon Farming Solution - Eric Toensmeier.

How it is grown

Climate: subtropical. Humidity: arid to semi-arid. Parkinsonia microphylla is a plant of arid and semi-arid climates in southwestern N. America, experiencing high summer temperatures and a highly variable rainfall. Requires a well-drained soil in a sunny position. The leaves of this species are ephemeral. The plant usually comes into leaf in the rainy season, but the leaves are soon deciduous, the function of photosynthesis being carried out by the green stems. The plant often responds poorly to coppicing. This species occasionally forms hybrids throughout its range with blue paloverde (Parkinsonia florida). In Mexico, it hybridizes with Parkinsonia praecox to form the natural hybrid Sonoran paloverde (Parkinsonia x sonorae). Although many species within the family Fabaceae have a symbiotic relationship with soil bacteria, this species is said to be devoid of such a relationship and therefore does not fix atmospheric nitrogen. It is slow growing. Trees can live for several hundred years. Carbon Farming Solutions - Cultivation: wild staple. Management: standard (Describes the non-destructive management systems that are used in cultivation).

Propagating it: Seed, acid scarification of seeds in 95% sulfuric acid for 30 min to 1 hr followed by a 15 minute rinse in cool to tepid water. Sow immediately thereafter.

Best place to grow:

Habit: Tree

Hardiness: 9-10

Growth: Slow

Soil: Light (sandy), medium, heavy (clay)

Shade: No shade

Moisture: Dry, moist

Things to keep in mind

Its other names

Local names

Yellow paloverde, Yellow Palo Verde, Ziipxol.

Synonyms

Cercidiopsis microphylla (Torr.) Britton & Rose; Parkinsonia microphyllum Torr.