#706 most planted

Olneya tesota

Ironwood · also Desert ironwood, Palo fierro, Tesota

Deciduous

599

trees mapped

0.01%

of all named trees

city

8.0 in

median trunk (20 cm, 599 measured)

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Olneya tesota, also known as desert ironwood, is a perennial flowering tree native to the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It features dense, dark wood, flaky bark, and feather-like leaves with spines, producing pink to purple pea-like flowers in summer followed by leathery pods. This drought-tolerant species prefers washes and gravelly flats, often growing alongside other desert trees like mesquite and palo verde.

Where it grows

Trees in each city's inventory, with the share of that city's named trees this species accounts for.

Tempe · United States
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5992.3%—8.0 in

No city in this list records planting dates for this species, so age is blank throughout.

Traits

Foliage: Deciduous
Mature height: 15–30 ft
Canopy spread: 15–30 ft
Soil: Well-drained, Gravelly
Water needs: Low
Drought tolerance: High
Blooms: Jun, Jul, Aug

Trunk diameters across every city: median 8.0 in, mean 9.3 in, 90th percentile 18 in. Measured at breast height, as published by each inventory.

Native range

Terrestrial ecoregions where this species is native. Trees in the dataset mostly stand well outside it.

Deserts & Xeric Shrublands

Baja California desert
Gulf of California xeric scrub
Sonoran desert