LEGUMINOSAE 



HONEYLOCUST 

 Gleditsia triacanthos L. 



HABIT. A medium-sized tree 50-75 feet high and 2-3 feet 

 in diameter (max. 140 by 5 feet); open, spreading crown; trunk 

 and branches usually armed with clusters of straight or branched 

 spines several inches long. 



LEAVES. Alternate; pinnately or bi-pinnately compound 

 with both types often on the same tree; 6-12 inches long; leaflets 

 Vl-^Vz inches long, lanceolate-oblong, remotely crenulate, thin, 

 glabrous, lustrous dark green above and yellowgreen below; 

 deciduous. 



FLOWERS. Regular; polygamous; small; in axillary racemes; 

 calyx 3-5 lobed; petals 3-5, greenish-white; stamens 3-10; 

 ovary 1 -celled, woolly; appearing after the leaves. 



FRUIT. A strap-shaped, red-brown, usually twisted legume 

 12-18 inches long and 1 inch wide; containing 12-14 dark 

 brown, oval seeds, each about Yi inch long. 



TWIGS. Slender to rather stout; usually with straight or 

 3-branched spines 2-3 inches long; green to red-brown. Winter 

 buds: terminal absent, lateral minute, brownish, 3 or more 

 superposed. 



BARK. Smooth and gray on limbs; becoming V2~/4 inch 

 thick, gray to nearly black, and broken by longitudinal fissures 

 into plates or scaly ridges. 



WOOD. Of slight importance; heavy and hard; durable; 

 red-brown; ring-porous; used for veneer and fuel. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; fast growing; hardy; 

 prefers rich, moist sites, but hardy on arid, sandy locations; the 

 thornless variety inermis (Pursh) Schneid., is commonly planted 

 in cities. 



•{! H< * 



Waterlocust 

 Gleditsia aquatica Marsh. 



This similar species is native to the coastal region from North 

 Carolina to Texas and up the Mississippi Valley to southern 

 Indiana. It is readily distinguished by its oval, oblique, 1-3 

 seeded legume, which is 1-2 inches long. The Texas honeylocust, 

 X Gleditsia texana Sarg., is a hybrid between waterlocust and 

 honeylocust and is characterized by a legume 4—5 inches long. 

 It hcis been reported from Indiana to Texas. 



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