Mesquite

• This species is a tree, growing to 3-12m tall, with green foliage.

EPPO Datasheet

• It is native to Mexico and Central America. It has become invasive in India, Israel, Jordan, Yemen, many countries in Africa, Australia, and French Polynesia.

• This species encroaches onto grassland to create thorny woodland. This leads to a decrease in native flora and fauna species.
• As it can form dense thickets, access routes and irrigation channels can become blocked, leading to further biodiversity issues. The thickets can also cause a problem for soil, as loss of grasses and herbs under these trees can promote soil erosion.
• This species has deep-reaching roots, which compete with native flora for limited water and nutrient resources.

• It has and still could be spread by man, either unintentionally or intentionally, through many of its expanded range.
• It could also spread via animal means when in introduced areas.

• Not present in Northern Ireland.

• EU-level action includes a ban on sales and any planting or keeping, including in aquaria, as well as rapid eradication of any new populations to avoid the excessively high costs associated with its management later on.
• Report all sightings.
• Know what you grow.
• Don't take cuttings or seedlings from plants that you can't identify.

• This species must not intentionally be brought into the Union; kept; bred; transported to, from or within the United Kingdom, unless for the transportation to facilities in the context of eradication; placed on the market; used or exchanged; permitted to reproduce, grown or cultivated; or released into the environment.