Prosopis alba

The thornless Prosopis alba is semi-deciduous. Its canopy is round, wide and shade-giving and can even reach a diameter of 20 m. At the end of spring, it bears greenish-yellowish flowers. Its leaves have a unique light green color. The tree suffers from extended cold spells, but it has no problem surviving short ones and even frosts. However, it excels in heat and dryness. It has no need for auxiliary watering, requiring very little water. It is resilient and suitable for all types of soil, even saline and chalky ones.

Unlike the thorny Prosopis alba, this tree has a sort of residual thorns that are delicate and not really sharp or prickly. Although it was developed from the ordinary Prosopis alba, propagating from seeds made it possible to maintain the absence of thorns, so that in fact this tree meets the criterion of a cultivar in itself. It is less strong, grows slower and has a shorter lifespan than its evolutionary ancestors. On the other hand, its roots are not invasive like the ordinary P. alba, nor are they so superficial and spread over great distances so it is a more convenient tree and is more flexible in terms of use.

Thanks to the fact that it grows slower, large branches’ breaking is less problematic in this cultivar. But the hazard does still exist, and it is important to design it, especially in its early years, with pruning to prevent acute branch angles and to preserve a balanced structure.