Black Locust Tree

Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the Black Locust, is a tree of the genus Robinia in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. With a trunk up to 0.8 m diameter (exceptionally up to 52 m tall[2] and 1.6 m diameter in very old trees), with thick, deeply furrowed blackish bark. The leaves are 10–25 cm long, pinnate with 9–19 oval leaflets, 2–5 cm long and 1.5–3 cm broad. Each leaf usually has a pair of short spines at the base, 1–2 mm long or absent on adult crown shoots, up to 2 cm long on vigorous young plants. The intensely fragrant (reminiscent of orange blossoms) flowers are white, borne in pendulous racemes 8–20 cm long, and are edible. The fruit is a legume 5–10 cm long, containing 4–10 seeds. Although similar in general appearance to the honey locust, it lacks that tree's characteristic long branched thorns on the trunk, instead having the pairs of short spines at the base of each leaf; the leaflets are also much broader.