The Collaborative International Dictionary
Mesquite \Mes*qui"te\ (m[e^]s*k[=e]"t[asl]), Mesquit \Mes*quit"\ (m[e^]s*k[=e]t"), n. [Sp. mezquite; said to be a Mexican Indian word.] (Bot.) Aany of several small spiny trees or shrubs of the southwestern part of North America belonging to the genus Prosopis having small flowers in axillary cylindrical spikes followed by large sugar-rich pods, especially the honey mesquite, and screw-pod mesquite.
Honey mesquite. See Algaroba (b) .
Screw-pod mesquite, a smaller tree ( Prosopis pubescens), having spiral pods used as fodder and sometimes as food by the Indians.
Mesquite grass, a rich native grass in Western Texas ( Bouteloua oligostachya, and other species); -- so called from its growing in company with the mesquite tree; -- called also muskit grass, grama grass.
WordNet
n. thorny deep-rooted drought-resistant shrub native to southwestern United States and Mexico bearing pods rich in sugar and important as livestock feed; tends to form extensive thickets [syn: Western honey mesquite, Prosopis glandulosa]
Usage examples of "honey mesquite".
But Sarna made it come alive, giving names to the scrub - greasewood, honey mesquite, rabbit brush -directing our eyes toward rare oases of activity - a flock of birds feasting upon a bitter cherry bush, an alligator lizard scurrying across the spines of a fan palm - extolling the beauty of a single, time-ravaged digger pine, describing the savagery of a hard winter in the high desert and the resilience of those creatures that survive.
Tiny yellow flowers of honey mesquite, in dazzling golden banks, smudged around the base of the tumbled buildings.