Gleditschia triacanthos, 
THE THREE-THORNED GLEDITSCHIA. 
Synonymes. 
Gleditschia tnacanthos, 
( Linnjeus, Species Plantarum. 
I De Candolle, Prodromus. 
IMichaux, North American Sylva. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torre y and Gray, Flora of North America. 
Fevier d'Amenque, Fevier a trois epines, France. 
Germany. 
Dreidorniger Honigdom, 
Acacia spinosa, Gleditschia spinosa, Fava 
americana, 
Fevier, 
Honey-shuck Locust, 
Honey Locust, Sweet Locust, Thorny j ^^^ ^ toujBmi 
Acacia. I iiree-thorned Acacia. ) 
Italy. 
French Canada. 
Kentucky. 
Derivations. The specific name, triacanthos, is derived from the Greek treis, three, and canthos, a thorn, having reference 
to the disposition of the spines, which are mostly triple or compound. The French name, Fivier, is probably corrupted from 
the word five, a bean, from the resemblance which the pods of this tree bear to those of beans. The German name signifies 
Three-thorned Honey Thorn. The English and French Canadian names are applied to this species on account of the sweet 
flavour of the juice of the pods. 
Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 79; Audubon, Birds of America, pi. xlii. ; Loudon, Arboretum Britan- 
nicum, v., pi. 90; and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Spines simple or trifid ; stout, at the very base compressed, in the upper part cylin- 
drical, but tapered. Leaflets linear-oblong. Legumes flattish, rather crooked, many-seeded, and more 
than ten times as long as broad. De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Description. 
HE Gleditschia tria- 
canthos, in favoura- 
ble situations, attains 
fiS^^i a height of seventy 
or eighty feet, with a trunk three or four feet in 
diameter, clear of branches to the height of 
thirty feet. The bark of the trunk and 
branches is of a gray colour, and that of the 
young shoots and spines, of a purplish-brown. 
When the tree becomes old, the bark of the 
trunk detaches itself laterally, in plates three 
or four inches in width, and nearly a quarter 
of an inch in thickness. When advanced 
in age, the trunk and branches are armed with j 
large prickles, which, though not ligneous, be- 
come hard, and remain attached to the bark for 
several years. These prickles are not only pro- 
duced from the young wood, but occasionally 
protrude themselves from the trunk, even when the tree is of considerable bulk 
and age. The trunk often presents a twisted appearance, and the branches pro- 
ceed from it rather horizontally, than in an upright direction. The foliage is 
particularly elegant, and is so thin that it scarcely obstructs the passage of the 
rays of the sun. The leaves are pinnated, and composed of small, oval, sessile 
eaflets, slightly crenulated at their summits, and of an agreeable, shining, light- 
