White-thorn Acacia
Acacia constricta
Colorful acacia beans were found in abundance in Vekol Valley, Sonoran Desert National Monument, Arizona. August 2008.
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13,000 YBP a diverse megafauna roamed parts of what are now the Sonoran Desert. The red-colored seed pods may have been attractive to herbivores such as camels and giant ground sloths which later dispersed the seeds in their feces. Now that the pleistocene fauna are gone cattle and horses may occasionally fill the same role.
Ishaque et al., 2002 (Acacias in the New Mexico desert. Rangelands. 24: 13-16) found that Whitethorn Acacia is high in cyanide-forming compounds which may limit its palatibility to some herbivores.