Honey Mesquite

Prosopis glandulosa

Hills guide picknative · Hill Country

Honey Mesquite is a large tree native to the Texas Hill Country that grows 25–40 ft tall and 25–30 ft wide. It wants full sun and very low water, and handles caliche and clay soil. Blooms yellow in Feb–Sep. Good for butterflies.

Will it grow in your yard?

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From our guide

Village of the Hills

Open, sculptural tree with fine bipinnate foliage that casts filtered shade rather than dense shade.

Why it works here

Nothing survives drought better. The dappled light lets grasses and wildflowers grow underneath, which a live oak will not allow.

Watch out

Thorns are serious. Suckers aggressively from a cut stump. Grasshoppers favor it. Not for a barefoot lawn area.

The facts

8 sources

Type: Large tree
Sun: Full sun (6+ hrs)
Water: Very low
Height: 25–40 ft
Spread: 25–30 ft
Bloom: Feb–Sep · yellow
Foliage: Deciduous
Soil: Takes caliche and clay · recorded on caliche, clay, dry, loam, sand, well drained
Deer: Moderate — deer may browse it, especially new growth. Beans eaten; foliage browsed when young
Wildlife: Supports butterflies

Size, sun, water and foliage from the Village of the Hills guide; the rest resolved across sources.

Where it grows

Recorded in these EPA Level IV ecoregions in the Austin and Hill Country launch area:

Balcones CanyonlandsEdwards Plateau WoodlandNorthern Blackland PrairieSouthern Post Oak SavannaFloodplains and Low TerracesLimestone Cut PlainSan Antonio Prairie

5,021 occurrence records in Central Texas (GBIF).

Can you buy it?

In the Village of the Hills guide, but not on the grower stock lists we read yet. Ask a native-plant nursery.