Genus Gleditschia, L. (Honey Locust)

Leaves - compound; )even-feathered, leaflets, ten to twenty-two or more, usually about fourteen), sometimes twice compound; alternate; edge of leaflets entire as seen above, but as seen below often remotely and slightly toothed. Outline of leaflet - long oval or long egg-shape. Base - and narrowed. Apex - rounded. Leaf/Stem - and very short. Leaflet/Stem - downy. Leaflets - three fourths to one and a half inches long; about one third as wide. Often several of them (one to three) are partly or wholly divided into smaller leaflets. Surfaces smooth and shining. Bark - of trunk, gray, and much less rough than that of the common Locust (which has a somewhat similar leaf); branchlets brown and often warty. The branches and the trunk, excepting in very young and quite old trees, are usually thickly covered with spines, two to four inches long, which are curved at the base, often two- to three-branches, and of a reddish-brown color. Flowers - small and greenish. Fruit - a long, flat pod (nine to eighteen inches long) reddish; somewhat twisted, and filled between the seeds with a pulp which at first is sweet (whence the name “Honey” Locust) but which soon becomes sour. The seeds are flat, hard, and brown. Found - native in Pennsylvania, westward and southward, but also somewhat naturalized and widely introduced northward. General Information - A tree sometimes seventy feet high, with wide-spreading and graceful branches, and light and delicate foliage. It is often used as a hedge plant. A variety entirely bare of thorns (var. inermis) is sometimes found; also a variety (var. brachycarpos) with shorter fruit and thorns.

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