Foothill palo verde
Parkinsonia microphylla Torr.
Also called foothill palo verde, yellow palo verde, palo verde. Synonyms: Cercidium microphyllum.
Slow-growing, long-lived palo verde of rocky desert slopes, with yellow-green bark, tiny leaves and spine-tipped twigs. Pale yellow flowers cover it in mid-spring, a few weeks after blue palo verde.
Size over time
Typical landscape size 3–6 m (10–20 ft) tall and 3–6 m (10–20 ft) wide; slow growth, about 35 years to maturity. Intermediate sizes use the planner’s growth curve (k = 0.12) from the #15 install size.
Bloom
Pale yellow flowers, Apr–May (northern-hemisphere months; timing shifts with region and season).
| Plant | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foothill palo verde : Apr–May |
Design notes
- Needs almost no supplemental water once established; overwatering shortens its life.
- Dense, spiny branchlets — keep it back from walks and play areas.
- A classic nurse tree for young saguaros in the wild.
Regions
Native range: Sonoran Desert uplands of Arizona, southeastern California and northwestern Mexico.
Native to these OpenLandscape3D pilot regions:
Native status describes where the species occurs naturally. It is not a promise that it suits a particular garden; site conditions decide that.
In the guides
Foothill palo verde comes up in this guide:
Related plants
Try Foothill palo verde in a plan
Opens your own copy of a finished sample garden in the planner with Foothill palo verde ready to place; the planner checks it against that garden’s zone, light and moisture.
Plan with Foothill palo verde
Place it in a design, check it against your zone, light and moisture, and see it at year three and year ten.