Honey locust
Gleditsia triacanthos
Native to Minnesota? Yes
General: The Honey locust is a deciduous, non-nitrogen fixing tree from the legume family, Fabaceae. At maturity, the Honey locust is a medium-sized tree growing up to 30′ to 80′ in height and 50′ in spread. The Honey locust is a medium to fast growing tree. The tree requires full sunlight and has light foliage to allow for sun and shade to reach the ground underneath the leaf spread. The Honey locust can adapt to many different soil types (organic, clay, sandy, rocky) and is extremely adaptive to environmental stressors.
Leaves: Alternate leaf arrangement on stems (6″-8″ long); doubly compound leaflet arrangement on the petiole with 18-28 leaflets; finely toothed margins; light green to dark green in color; yellow in color in the fall
Bark: Dark brown or gray in color; divided into long, narrow, scaly ridges; may be armed with sharp, strong, brown thorns (4″-8″ long); young bark is smooth with numerous lenticels; mature bark develops flared fissures
Fruit/Seed: Pod (8″-12″ long); dark brown to black in color when ripe; contain seeds and a whitish-yellow pulp; flat and may become twisted when seeds are ripe; seeds are oval-shaped and hard and are separated by the pulp of the fruit
Interesting Facts: Honey locust is one of the most widely grown trees in urban areas. Trees grown without thorns make up 10% of the natural Honey locust population.
Range: The distribution of the Honey locust trees spans across most of the United States and part of eastern Canada. Because of the Honey locust’s adaptability to a variety of conditions, it is grown in most urban areas. In Minnesota, the Honey locust is found along the Root River Valley and Mississippi bottomlands in forested areas and besides roads and fields.
plants.usda.gov
St Thomas Trees 