Trees of New York State 269 



LEGUMINOSAE 



Gleditsia triacanthos L. 



Honey Locust 



Habit — Usually a iiu'dium-sized tree 40-80 feet high with a trunk diameter 

 of 1-3 feet, under favorable conditions on rich river bottoms occasionally 

 140 feet tall. Trunk generally short, characteristically marked with 

 clumps of thorns, dividing a few feet above the ground into a number of 

 stout, ascending limbs ami slender, spreading, somewhat pendulous, zigzag 

 branches to form a broadly obovate or flat-topped head. 



Leaves — Alternate, pinnate or bipinnate, 6-8 inches long, borne on flattened, 

 pubescent petioles which are grooved above and enlarged at the base. 

 Pinnate leaves with 18-28 nearly sessile leaflets borne subopposite cr 

 alternate on a hairy rachis. Leaflets ovate-lanceolate to elliptical, bluntly 

 acute or rounded at the apex, acute and slightly inequilateral at the base, 

 remotely crcnulate-serrate, at maturity dark green and lustrous above, 

 dull yellowish green below, 1-2 inches long. Bipinnate leaves with 4-7 

 pairs of pinnae. Leaflets similar to those of the pinnate leaves but 

 smaller. 



Flowers — Appearing in June when the pinnate leaves are nearly full grown, 

 small, greenish, polygamous, borne in lax racemes from the axils of the 

 leaves of the season or of preceding seasons. Staminate racemes often 

 clustered, pubescent, densely-flowered, 2-2 1^ inches long at maturity. 

 Pistillate racemes slender, few-flowered, usually solitary, 21/4-3V1' inches 

 long. Calyx campanulate, unequally 5-lobed, the lobes acute and hairy. 

 Petals oval or oblong-oval, erect, longer than the calyx-lobes, the margin 

 inrolled and pubescent. Stamens 10, exserted, inserted on the calyx-tube,, 

 with slender filaments and green anthers. Pistil consisting of a linear- 

 lanceolate, white-tomentose, subsessile, 1-celled ovary, a short style, and! 

 a terminal capitate stigma. 



Truit — A flat, thin, thick-margined, somewhat falcate and t\visted, reddish 

 or purplish brown legume, 12-18 inches long, 1-1 Vs inches wide, tapering 

 at either end, borne in clusters of 2 or 3 on short stalks, tardily deciduous 

 during the fall and winter. Flesh thin. Seeds oval, compressed, brown, 

 about Ys of an inch long. 



Winter characters — Twigs rather stout, zigzag, thickened at the nodes and 

 apex, lustrous, reddish or greenish brown, at length grayish brown. 

 Simple or branched thorns, often 3-4 inches long, are borne above tiie 

 leaf-scars and on the trunk and main branches of some trees. Terminal 

 bud absent. Lateral buds minute, several at a node, superposed, the 

 upper larger and scaly, the lower wholly submerged in the bark. Mature 

 bark rather thick, grayish brown to almost black, usually roughened and 

 divided by deep fissures into long, narrow, longitudinal ridges Avhich are 

 scaly on the surface. 



Habitat — By preference a bottom-land species attaining its best development/ 

 in deep, moist soils along stream courses, but occupying a variety of 

 sites in rich woods and on moist mountain slopes. Propagates readily 

 from seeds but requires plently of light. 



Range — Southern Ontario westward to eastern Nebraska and Kansas, south- 

 ward to Florida and Texas. Zones A, B, and C. 



Uses — • A timber species of secondary value southward beyond the borders of 

 the state. Wood hard, heavy, strong, coarse-grained, ver\^ durable in 

 contact with the soil, reddish brown with thin pale sapwood. Used for 

 railroad ties, fence posts and occasionally in construction. This species 

 is widely propagated as a hedge plant because of its ^ngorous growtli and 

 well-armed branches. It is especially free from fungal and insect enemies 

 and is to be recommended as an ornamental tree. 



