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Honey locust

Gleditsia triacanthos

Photo by drP
Published on Project Noah
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37.0804, -77.9972

Field Notes

Description:

Tree huggers beware! A tall tree in the pea family (Fabaceae) noted for its pinnately compound leaves and formidable branched thorns. As shown, the thorns grow not only on twigs and branches, but even out of the trunk. As you can see in the pics, even the thorns have thorns! There are cultivated varieties without thorns, but this spotting is the real deal.

Habitat:

Moist soil in the central US.

Notes:

Lichens and a poison ivy vine also pictured.

Reference Links:

Honey locust

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (2)
drP
Thanks for the info. I'll fix the description.
chesterbperry
The water locust(G. aquatica) has similar thorns. The pulp from the seedpods is edible and source of the common name.

Spotted for Missions

Mission
Eastern North America Trees
Photographed
PublishedMarch 5, 2013

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