HONEY LOCUST
Gleditsia triacanthos
CAESALPINIA FAMILY (Caesalpiniaceae)
Description
This large, thorny tree grows up to 90 feet tall. Young trees sometimes have red thorns and a smooth bark (B). Mature trees have brown thorns and scaly bark ridges curving outward (C). It has twice (bipinnately) compound leaves with 14-20 rounded leaflets (A). By October the leaves on the ground turn yellow (as whole leaves or single leaflets - as shown in image (G). The fruit is a flat, 6-16 inch long twisted seed pod, first yellow, then dark brown, often remaining on the tree well into winter (A,D,E). Trunks, branches and twigs exude a sticky resin during the summer (F). The related Kentucky Coffee-Tree (Gymnocladus dioica) has similar bark but lacks thorns, has pointed leaflets and thick seed pods.
Occurrence
Grown on floodplains and uplands, flowering in May and June. In Fontenelle Forest, uncommon along Cottonwood Trail. At Neale Woods, uncommon in Raccoon Hollow.
Disclaimer: The content of NatureSearch is provided by dedicated volunteer Naturalists of Fontenelle Nature Association who strive to provide the most accurate information available. Contributors of the images retain their copyrights. The point of contact for this page
is: Roland Barth.
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