Honey Locust
Classification:
Family - Fabaceae, pea family
Genus, species - Gleditsia triacanthos
Leaves:
Leaves are doubly compound. Leaflets are oblong, elliptical, about 1 inch long. Leaflet edges are sometimes wavy, usually smooth.
Bark:
Bark is grayish-brown, fissured with long narrow ridges. Bark has stout spines, up to 8 inches long.
Flowers:
Flowers are greenish-yellow, bell-shaped with five petals, clustered at base of leaves.
Fruit:
Fruit is a long flat pod, 10 inches long, dark brown.
Twigs:
Twigs have long unpaired spines. In comparison, black locust twigs have shorter paired spines.
Seeds:
Seeds are flat, dark brown, beanlike, enclosed within pods.
More Information:
The genus, Gleditsia, is named for Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (1714-1786), a German botanist. The species name, triacanthos, is from the Latin for "three-spined."
Photos:Honey locust
Honey locust bark with thorns
Honey locust thorn
