• Mesquitemesquite image by Robert Freese from Fotolia.com
  
  Shade trees in the Arizona desert provide necessary protection from the beating sun. When selecting shade trees to landscape a lawn, it is important to choose ones that are native to the area and beneficial to native wildlife. Trees not indigenous to the area will require more water to sustain and will have a negative effect on the local environment.
  
  

Mesquite

• The native Arizona mesquite tree (Prosopis spp.) plays an important role in the desert ecosystem. Mesquite trees bear lateral roots that can extend beyond the 15-foot canopy of shade from their thorny branches. Those roots can also find subsurface water sources, sometimes 150 feet down. They enrich the desert soil by restoring much-needed nitrogen to it. Mesquite trees are deciduous, can grow 25 feet tall, require little water and maintenance, and can live for over a century. Clusters of pale green or yellowish flowers bloom in early summer. Mesquite trees produce pods that Native Americans used as a staple food.
  
  

Palo Verde

• The blue palo verde tree (Parkinsonia floridum) has a greenish tint to its spiny branches and many trunks. When it drops leaves and sometimes branches to combat extreme heat or drought, it can continue to photosynthesize with its bark. It can grow 30 feet tall, requires little water, and often nurses other desert plants like the saguaro cactus underneath its canopy of yellow blossoms and leaves. The blue palo verde is Arizona's official state tree.
  
  The foothill palo verde tree (Parkinsonia microphyllum) is shorter, reaching around 20 feet tall, with leaves that are paler and give the tree more of a shrub-like appearance. The foothill variety can live longer, sometimes well over a century.
  
  

Desert Willow

• The desert willow (Chilopsis linearis) will quickly reach its maximum height of about 25 feet. It requires little water and can withstand both droughts and freezes. Typically found in desert washes, the willow offers natural protection against flood or erosion damage. From May to October, it bears trumpet-shaped blooms that can be aromatic and attract native birds like the hummingbird. It The desert willow, which is deciduous, has multiple trunks and can grow in different directions, sometimes resembling a bush. Slight pruning can make it look more like a tree. Native Americans once used wood from the desert willow to make bows. The desert willow is technically not a willow tree at all. It is more akin to a catalpa tree.