Flora of North America species comparison

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Parkinsonia aculeata

Jerusalem thorn, Mexican palo verde
Habit Trees, to 10 m, with nodal spines.
Stems

yellowish green, twigs glabrous or sparsely pubescent (at least around nodes).
Leaves

appearing pinnate;

stipules obsolescent or spinescent, spines to 20 mm;

petiole obsolete;

pinnae 2(or 3);

petiolules 0.2–0.3 mm, sparsely pubescent;

rachillas (100–)150–600 mm, narrowly winged, with sparse, glandular patches in leaflet axils;

leaflets 40–76, alternate, subopposite, or opposite, blades oblanceolate to oblong, 2–8 × 0.9–3 mm, base attenuate, apex obtuse, apiculate, surfaces sparsely pubescent abaxially, glabrate adaxially.
Racemes

2–15-flowered, axis 8–18 cm, strigulose to glabrate;

bracts linear or lanceolate, 2 × 0.3 mm;

bracteoles caducous or subpersistent.
Pedicels

5.4–13.8 mm, glabrous or sparsely pubescent, joints 1.5–3.5 mm from flower, not bearded, nearer flower than pedicel base.
Flowers

calyx lobes usually deciduous, sparsely pubescent abaxially, pubescent adaxially;

corolla 13–20 mm diam., petals light to deep yellow, adaxial one usually orange-dotted basally;

ovary sericeous.
Legumes

subterete, constricted between seeds, 2–12 × 0.5–0.8 cm, glabrous.
Seeds

(1 or)2–5.
2n

= 28.

Parkinsonia aculeata
Phenology Flowering Mar–Sep.
Habitat Low, poorly drained areas, open woods, roadsides, disturbed places.
Elevation 0–1300 m. (0–4300 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
AL; AZ; CA; FL; GA; LA; MS; NM; NV; SC; TX; UT; Mexico; Central America; West Indies [Introduced in North America; introduced also in South America, Asia, Africa, Australia]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The original distribution of Parkinsonia aculeata is unknown, possibly Central America and southern Mexico (R. S. Felger et al. 2001; G. P. Lewis et al. 2005; J. A. Hawkins et al. 2007). Parkinsonia aculeata is now extensively naturalized in the tropics and subtropics. Among native congenerics in the flora area, it shares adaxially pubescent calyx lobes only with P. microphylla and can be easily differentiated by the longer, winged rachillas, and 40–76, alternate or opposite leaflets per pinna versus (6–)12–16 and opposite per pinna in P. microphylla.

Hybrids between Parkinsonia aculeata and P. microphylla are known from the flora area. Individuals of P. aculeata × P. microphylla can be distinguished by the combination of rachillas of intermediate length (usually 2–6 times as long as in P. microphylla) and glandular patches completely or nearly completely surrounding the pulvini.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 11.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Caesalpinioideae (excluding Mimosoid clade) > Parkinsonia
Sibling taxa
P. florida, P. microphylla, P. texana
Synonyms P. thornberi
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 375. (1753)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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