80 



Common Trees 



HONEY LOCUST 



Gleditsia tciacanthos, Linnaeus 



THE Honey Locust, also called Sweet Locust, Thorn 

 Tree and Thrce-thorned Acacia, is the most beautiful 

 large pod-bearing tree of Ohio. 



The leaves are alternate, singly or doubly compound, 7 

 to 8 inches long. When singly compound they have 18 to 

 28 leaflets, and when 

 doubly compound have 

 8 to 14 pinnae each 

 with 18 to 20 leaflets. 



The flowers are 

 greenish, appear about 

 May or June, and are of 

 two kinds. The pollen- 

 bearing arc arranged in 

 short tassels; the pod- 

 bearing occur in few- 

 flowered clusters. 



The fruit is a thin, 

 flat, more or less twist- 

 ed, reddish-brown pod, 

 10 to 18 inches long, 

 containing many small 

 flat seeds and often per- 

 sist far into winter. 



The bark on young ^ . ^ honey locust 



' * u Twig, natural size. Leaves, pod and thorn, 

 Stems is smooth, One-fourth natural size. 



brownish, dotted with 



many oblong breathing pores. On old trunks it becomes 

 grayish-brown to black and roughened with shallow fur- 

 rows and firm ridges. The branches and trunk usually bear 

 very distinctive, large, three-pronged sharp-pointed thorns. 

 The twigs arc smooth, glossy, greenish-brown. The buds 

 arc very small, usually 3 at a node, and placed above one 

 another. 



The wood is hard, heavy, strong, reddish-brown with 

 pale sapwood. It is rather durable in contact with soil and 

 used for posts, rails, and general construction work. 



The Honey Locust has a rather extensive range from On- 

 tario to Kansas and south to Pennsylvania, Florida and 

 Texas. It occurs locally throughout Ohio, but is most coin- 

 mon in the southwestern section. It has been planted in 

 some localities for ornamental purposes. Under favorable 

 conditions it will grow to a height of 80 feet and a diam- 

 eter of 4 feet. It is a handsome park tree and is growing 

 in favor for ornamental planting. 



