Parkinsonia florida

Common Name: Blue Palo Verde
Oˊodham Name: Koˊokmaḍ (Koˊokmadt) Audio
Group: Trees － Desert

Description

Parkinsonia florida is the largest of three species of "Palo Verde" native to the Sonoran Desert. The tree forms a tangled, spherical mass of spiny blue-green stems and leaves, and it may reach a size of 25 ft wide and tall. It grows in sandy soil in, and near, washes and, less often, on desert flats between 500 and 4000 ft. Also see Parkinsonia microphylla and Parkinsonia aculeata. Until recently this species was included in the genus Cercidium, as Cercidium floridum.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae － Plants

Subkingdom Tracheobionta － Vascular plants

Superdivision Spermatophyta － Seed plants

Division Magnoliophyta － Flowering plants

Class Magnoliopsida － Dicotyledons

Subclass Rosidae

Order Fabales

Family Fabaceae － Pea family

Genus Parkinsonia L. － paloverde

Species Parkinsonia florida (Benth. ex A. Gray) S. Watson － blue paloverde

More Information

USDA Plant Profile and Map