

HONEY LOCUST 



{Gleditsia triacanthos L.) 



TTHE honey locust occurs scattered througliout 

 the State except high in the mountains. It grows 

 under a wide variety of soil and moisture condi- 

 tions. It sometimes occurs in the forest, but more 

 commonly in corners and waste places beside roads 

 and fields. It reaches a diameter of 30 inches and 

 a height of 75 feet. The bark on old trees is dark 



gray and is 

 divided into 

 thin tight 

 scales. The 

 strong 

 thorns — 

 straight, 

 brown, 

 b r a n c hed, 

 sharp and 

 shiny which 

 grow on the 

 1 - year - old 

 wood and re- 

 m a i n for 

 many years 

 — a r e suffi- 

 cient to iden- 

 t i f y the 

 honey locust. 

 The leaf is 

 pinnate, o r 

 feather - like, 

 with 18 to 28 leaflets; or it is twice-pinnate, con- 

 sisting of 4 to 7 pairs of pinnate or secondary leaf- 

 lets, each 6 to 8 inches long and somewhat resem- 

 bling the leaf of the black locust. 



The fruit is a pod, 10 to 18 inches long, often 

 twisted, 1 to IV2 inches wide, flat, dark brown or 

 black when ripe and containing yellow sweetish 

 pulp and seeds. The seeds are very hard and each 

 is separated from the others by the pulp. The 

 pods are eaten by many animals, and as the seeds 

 are hard to digest, many are thus widely scattered 

 from the parent tree. 



The wood is coarse-grained, hard, strong and 

 moderately durable in contact with the ground. 

 It is used for fence posts and crossties. It should 

 not be confused with the very durable wood of the 

 black locust. 



63 



HONKY LOCUST 



Twig, three-quarters natural size. 



Leaf, one-quarter natural size. 



