Update on our palo blanco tree
A reader recently asked how the palo blanco tree ( Mariosousa heterophylla ) in our front yard was doing. Time for an update! First of all, in spite of the similar name, the palo blanco is not related to the palo verde. “Palo” simply means “stick” in Spanish, so one is “white stick,” the other “green stick.” The palo blanco ( Mariosousa heterophylla ) is a slow-growing acacia native to the Mexican state of Sonora where it grows on hot rocky slopes. The palo verde ( Parkinsonsia sp.) is a group of fast-growing trees in the pea family native to semi-desert regions from Arizona south to Argentina; the ‘Desert Museum’ hybrid has become a popular street tree, not only in Arizona and Southern California, but increasingly up here in Northern California. I fell in love with the palo blanco years ago when I first saw it at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. After I became aware of its existence, I started to notice it all over the place, both in the Phoenix and the Tucson are...