Bilayati Babul / Mesquite
Prosopis juliflora
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan & more
- Flowering
- October-May
How to identify Bilayati Babul
Identify Bilayati Babul by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Invasive thorny mesquite.
- Confirm leaf type: Pinnately compound.
- Confirm leaf shape: Feathery bipinnate leaflets.
- Confirm fruit type: Legume.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: October-May.
- In India, compare location records such as Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and nearby regions.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Prosopis juliflora
- Genus
- Prosopis
- Family
- Mimosaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- In plains, sometimes gregarious in wastelands
- Habitat type
- Wasteland
- Native to
- Tropical America
- Distribution
- Tropics of the World
- Found in India
- Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Punjab, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry, Uttarakhand
- Flowering & fruiting
- October-May
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Leaf type
- Pinnately compoundrecordedLeaflets are arranged in rows along a central stalk, like a feather.“Its leaves are deciduous, geminate-pinnate, light green, with 12 to 20 leaflets.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Leaf shape
- Feathery bipinnate leafletsrecorded
Typical of the family
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bilayati Babul itself; the rest are typical of the Mimosaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Fruit type
- LegumerecordedA dry pod that splits open along two seams (typical of the pea/bean family).“Pods are 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 in) long and contain between 10 and 30 seeds per pod.” — Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0
Typical of the family
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Head
- Fruit
- Legume
Characters marked “recorded” are for Bilayati Babul itself; the rest are typical of the Mimosaceae family — flowering plants only.
Local Names
- Hindi
- बिलायती बबूल bilayati babul
- Tamil
- சீமை கருவேலமரம், சீமைக் கருவேலம்
- Telugu
- సర్కారు తుమ్మ
- Malayalam
- സാലിമരം
About Bilayati Babul
Mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) belongs to the Mimosaceae family, where it grows as a tree. In India it has been recorded in Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and 15 other states. It grows in in plains, sometimes gregarious in wastelands. Flowering and fruiting run from October to May.
Uses
Locally it is grown for parts that are eaten, used to deter insects and harvested for fodder.
Mimosaceae
Mimosa/Acacia family
Bilayati Babul belongs to the Mimosaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
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