HONEY LOCUST ALBERT KIM

Gleditsia triacanthos L.

Classification

Kingdom Plantae – Plants Subkingdom Tracheobionta – Vascular plants Superdivision Spermatophyta – Seed plants Division Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants Class Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons Subclass Rosidae Order Fabales Family Fabaceae – Pea family Genus Gleditsia L. – locust Species Gleditsia triacanthos L. – honeylocust

Shape, Form, and Type

Honey locust is a medium sized tree with a typically short bole and an airy, spreading crown, reaching up to 80 feet tall. The trunk diameter goes up to 3 feet and is straight, usually with 3-parted thorns. Figure 1

Bark

The bark is, at first, gray-brown to dark brown. It’s deeply furrowed with many horizontal lenticels and breaks into long, narrow, curling plates. The honey locust often has clusters of large, branched thorns on the trunk. Figure 2

Twig

The honey locust’s twigs can be either stout or slender, very zig-zagged, red-brown to light brown in color, and have numerous lenticels and branched thorns. Lateral buds are very small and sunken. Also has 3-parted thorns.

Figure 3

Leaf

The leaf is alternate, pinnately compound, 5 to 8 inches long, and with 15 to 30 leaflets. It can also be bipinnately compound with 4 to 7 pairs of minor leaflets. Leaflets are 1/2 to 1 and a 1/2 inches long, ovate to elliptical in shape, and typically green to yellow-green.

Figure 4

Bud

The buds are brown and the terminal is absent, with small laterals.The buds are somewhat hidden and clustered in the winter. They are rounded nearly hidden beneath the leaf scars and are up to an 1/8 of an inch long

Figure 5

Flower

Flowers are small, greenish yellow, and are on 2 to 3 inch long, hanging clusters. It’s very fragrant and appears in late spring and early summer

Figure 6

Fruit

The fruit is a very distinctive, 6 to 8 inches long, flattened, red-brown, leathery pod. The pod becomes dry and twisted and contains many oval, dark brown, shiny seeds, 1/3 inch long,which mature in late summer and early fall.

Figure 7

Habitat and Range

Habitat is where it’s moist, has woody ravines and thickets, and along roads.

Honey locust is found scattered in the East-Central United States

Figure 8

Uses

Timber and wood are valuable from this tree. It’s also used as a decorative tree.

References

Retrieved 6/24/10. http://www.treehelp.com/trees/locust/loc ust-types-honey.asp

Retrieved 6/24/10. http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/ TreeDetail.cfm?ID=24

Retrieved 6/24/10. www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/ gtriacanthos.htm

Retrieved 6/24/10. plants.usda.gov/plantguide/doc/pg_ gltr.doc

Retrieved 6/24/10. http://plants.usda.gov/java/nameSearch?keywordquery=Gleditsia+triacanthos&mode=sciname