However, unless you obtain the non-spiky “Desert Museum” specimen, watch out for the extremely spiky trunk and branches that will keep you busy with constant clean-up work and will tear up ...

This semi-deciduous Palo Verde can grow to 20-plus feet tall and wide in five years. The canopy is an open and airy network of supple tiny twigs and small branches, casting a filtered shade.

All of the Cercidium Palo Verde trees have their individual qualities, but one hybrid, Desert Museum Palo Verde, stands out and is being planted widely.

Palo verde trees are putting on a spectacular show this month — cloaking seemingly endless expanses of foothills and deserts with their brilliant yellow blooms.

The palo verde's bark is equipped with chlorophyll, which enables it to conduct much of the plant's photosynthesis. Why can't the leaves do the job?