Just off Highway 36 near Flat, in front of an historic dogtrot cabin, is an equally historic tree. In its day, it was known as 'The Great Me s quite.'

The former arbor celebrity isn't much to look at now. Blizzards, ice storms, freezes and general but pervasive ravages of time have broken many of its primary branches, though it remains rooted to the Coryell County soil, as it has for hundreds of years.

The tree doesn't call attention to itself. A cursory glance as you speed by at 60 miles per hour might not even re veal the tree's species, much less its history. It doesn't look a lot like a mesquite tree, but it's not your typical mesquite tree.

While the tree enjoyed a certain amount of local re cognition early in Coryell County's history, it wasn't until Weldon Woodson wrote an article about the tree for the Houston Chronicle in 1947 that it came to the attention of the wider world.

Woodson wrote that Charley and Andy Smith from Tennessee settled near Flat in 1883 and built the double dogtrot cabin still standing just behind the tree. (The cabin's history was outlined in a Nov. 14, 2005, Backroads

column.)

According to Woodson, the American Forestry Association launched a campaign to locate the largest species of American trees. Woodson himself, a cousin of Allen Smith, sent the mesquite's measurements to the association.

Recognized as the world's largest mesquite tree, the Great Mesquite was inducted into the equivalent of a tree Hall of Fame.

Woodson measured the tree at 60 feet tall with a 65-foot spread.

If trees had egos, this would be pretty heady stuff for the humble mesquite, which is as comfortable as a shrub as it is a tree. While terms such as 'majestic' and 'grand' are rarely used in connection with the mesquite, it is an opportunistic survivor in a sometimes-harsh climate.

Mesquite originally grew along streams and rivers and in random groves on the open prairie. Native people used the bean pod for meal and made it into bread and even a low-grade beer. The bark was used to make baskets, rope, medicine and other implements of daily living.

Frank Simmons, writing of the mesquite in his 1936 history of Coryell County, wrote: 'The thin lace-leafed foliage of the mesquite will not allow it to take its place as a shade tree around homes, but to one who loves the rich honey-laden odor of this tree, when it is in full flower, the Mesquite finds a favored place. The blossom season is a long one.'

Everything has worked in the mesquite's favor since the land was settled. The cessation of fire, cattle drives, droughts and overgrazing have all contributed to the proliferation of the mesquite. It's been a mixed blessing.

While mesquite provides cover for wildlife, shade for livestock, wood for fences, corrals, furniture, cooking and other uses, its very adaptability can turn it into a menace. Dense stands can deplete water flow in streams and rivers and play havoc with shallow water tables. Once established, it's hard to get rid of.

That brings us back to the Great Mesquite in Coryell County. Though it may not be long for the world, the fact that it grew to be recognized as the largest mesquite tree in the world and has survived, in a fashion, everything nature has thrown at it so far, makes it a tree among trees.