Honeylocusts are large, deciduous trees. Native trees usually bear stout, often branched, spines. Winter buds are small and superposed. Leaves are alternate and compound, or twice compound. Leaflets are small. Unisexual and bisexual flowers are found on the same plant. The fruit is a large, compressed pod.
Gleditsia triacanthos–Common Honeylocust
Common Honeylocust–Gleditsia triacanthos
The honeylocust tree occurs scattered throughout the state, although it is more common in the southwestern section. It grows under a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions. It sometimes occurs in the forest, but more commonly in corners and waste places beside roads and fields. It grows to a diameter of 30 inches and a height of 75 feet.
The leaves are alternate, odd-pinnate or twice compound, and feather-like with 18—28 leaflets. Pinnate leaves are 6—8 inches (15—20 cm) long and resemble the leaf of the black locust. Twice pinnate leaves consist of four to seven pairs of pinnate, or secondary, leaflets. Leaflets are 3/4—11/2 inches (19—38 mm) long and medium green in color. Leaflets are only slightly toothed and nearly sessile (not stalked).
Terminal buds are conspicuously absent. Winter buds are very minute, hidden, and superposed. The bark on old trees is dark gray and is divided into thin, tight scales.
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This species has strong thorns that are straight, brown, sharp, and shiny. Unbranched spines are found on the 1-year-old twigs and remain for many years. The main stem has thorns that are often branched and as long as 15 inches (38 cm). The thorns along the main stem are spectacular and borne in clusters that sometimes obscure the bark. The thorns are sufficient to identify native honeylocust.
Flowers are greenish-white and bloom in June. A single raceme has many male flowers and a few perfect flowers. Some of the nursery selections have been selected for a tendency to produce reduced numbers of perfect flowers. Sometimes they are listed as fruitless, but this is not true. They should be listed as showing reduced fruiting. Fruit follows in October and persists well into December. The fruit is a pod, 10—18 inches (25—45 cm) long, often twisted, 1—11/2 inches (25—38 mm) wide, flat, dark brown or black when ripe, and containing yellow, sweetish pulp and seeds. The seeds are very hard, and each is separated from the others by the pulp. The pods are eaten by many animals. Since the seeds are hard to digest, many seeds pass through the digestive system and are widely scattered from the parent tree. The wood is coarse-grained, hard, and strong.
Thornless selections of common honeylocust are commonly planted as ornamentals. This tree makes a beautiful lawn tree and is well adapted for street and ornamental planting. Numerous named cultivars are available for landscape planting and avoid the obvious problems that the thorns represent. Among the Ohio introductions are ‘Imperial,' ‘Moraine,' ‘Shademaster,' and ‘Skyline.' The variety inermis is a naturally occurring seedling that is thornless, or nearly so.