Many, see text Neltuma juliflora (Spanish: bayahonda blanca, Cuji in Venezuela, Trupillo in Colombia, Aippia in the Wayuunaiki language and long-thorn kiawe[1] in Hawaii), formerly Prosopis juliflora, is a shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae, a kind of mesquite.

[3] It is a contributing factor to continuing transmission of malaria, especially during dry periods when sugar sources from native plants are largely unavailable to mosquitoes.

The flowers are in 5–10 centimetres (2–4 inches) long green-yellow cylindrical spikes, which occur in clusters of 2 to 5 at the ends of branches.

It is claimed that N. juliflora existed and was recognised even as a holy tree in ancient India, but this is most likely a confusion with P. cineraria.

In the western extent of its range in Ecuador and Peru, N. juliflora readily hybridises with Prosopis pallida and can be difficult to distinguish from this similar species or their interspecific hybrid strains.

Other similar names are also used, including bayahonde, bayahonda and bayarone, but these may also refer to any Neotropical member of the genus Prosopis.

The tree is known by a range of other names in various parts of the world, including algarrobe, cambrón, cashaw, épinard, mesquite, mostrenco, or mathenge.

[8] Many of the less-specific names are because over large parts of its range, it is the most familiar and common species of mesquite, and thus to locals simply "the" bayahonde, algarrobe, etc.

In the Wayuu language, spoken on the La Guajira Peninsula in northern Colombia and Venezuela, it is called trupillo or turpío.

It is considered a noxious invader in Ethiopia, Hawaii,[1] Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Kenya, the Middle East, India, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Senegal, South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

[13] In Australia, mesquite has colonized more than 800,000 hectares (2,000,000 acres) of arable land, having severe economic and environmental impacts.

With its thorns and many low branches it forms impenetrable thickets which prevent cattle from accessing watering holes, etc.

It then invaded the grasslands in and around Hambantota and the Bundala National Park, causing similar problems as in Australia and Ethiopia.

[20] This implies that this species cannot be imported, cultivated, transported, commercialized, planted, or intentionally released into the environment in the whole of the European Union.

[13] The sweet pods are edible and nutritious, and have been a traditional source of food for indigenous peoples in Peru, Chile and California.