View photos of the edible plant Lysiloma watsonii (Feather tree), profiled in Sonoran Desert Food Plants.

These pictures were taken in the Rincon Mountains, Arizona, Lysiloma’s only native establishment in America. Here it’s a successful small tree/large bush; isolated yet locally stable.

Next to the springs and larger pools Hohokam grinding holes are common in the bedrock, which were once used to crush Lysiloma, Parkinsonia (Paloverde), Prosopis (Mesquite), and certainly other items. The beans are not bad tasting fresh, however I think Foothills paloverde and Ironwood beans are better. Dried, soaked and strained a couple of times, and then boiled, they are a fine cooked wild bean.