Mesquite \Mes*qui"te\, Mesquit \Mes*quit"\, n. [Sp. mezquite; said to be a Mexican Indian word.]

(Bot.) A name for two trees of the southwestern part of North America, the honey mesquite, and screw-pod mesquite.

Honey mesquite. See Algaroba
   (b) .

Screw-pod mesquite, a smaller tree (Prosopis pubescens), having spiral pods used as fodder and sometimes as food by the Indians.

Mesquite grass, a rich native grass in Western Texas (Bouteloua oligostachya, and other species); -- so called from its growing in company with the mesquite tree; -- called also muskit grass, grama grass.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)