General: Ironwood Trees (Olneya tesolata) are trees of desert washes that can grow to be quite large and old. The leaves are compound with several lateral leaflets per leaf (even-1-pinnate). The inflorescence is an axillary raceme with 2–4 pea-type flowers. Flowers have purple wings and yellow or white petals.

Ironwood Trees are a fairly common component of vegetation communities in dry, well-drained gravelly and sandy washes on lower bajadas and desert flats in the Lower Sonoran (Creosote-Bursage Flats) life zone.

Around Las Vegas, look for Ironwood Trees south of town in the lower southern California deserts around Blythe and over into Arizona.

Family: Pea (Fabaceae)