Prosopis Alba Tree Branches Leaves Stock Photo

Prosopis alba is a South American tree species that grows in central Argentina, the Gran Chaco ecoregion, and part of the Argentine Mesopotamia, as well as Bolivia, Paraguay, and Peru. It is known as algarrobo blanco in Spanish. Spanish gave it that name because of its similarity to the European carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua).The flowers are small, greenish-white or yellowish, and bisexual. Pollination, mediated by wind and insects, is allogamous (crossed), since the female reproductive organs are turned active before the male ones. The fruits are modified seedpods, 20 cm (7.9 in) long, with brown seeds about 7 mm (0.28 in) long. They contain a sweet floury paste (patay), very high in energy, that can be used for fodder or turned into flour for human consumption.