One of the most important, and oldest, plants in the Sonoran Desert.   Although the extremely dense wood makes it difficult to do standard tree-ring dating, the Desert Ironwood has been estimated to be able to live for almost 800 years!  The ironwood acts as a nurse plant, with its canopy providing the ideal shelter and nutrients for many other plants, including the Saguaro cactus.  Its role in the desert is considered so important that the Ironwood tree has been a protected species in Arizona since the 1970’s. Desert Ironwoods are very thorny. When planted as a five gallon or fifteen gallon specimen, ironwoods tend to grow slowly for several years unless they are watered regularly.  They get a beautiful pale pink pea like flowers in late spring and provide excellent habitat for wild life.