There are three Honey Locust trees on the right at the very start of the arboretum, where the old cherries are still standing - just. The autumn colour and leaf vigour appears to differ between the trees. The thorns on the shoots are, as always, vicious and threatening, and may have been a useful deterrent against browsing by megafauna, but are apparently too widely spaced to be effective against deer. Sometimes said to have been used as nails in the past. There are also now quite a few thornless varieties that are used in landscaping and street trees. The tree is said to produce root suckers, which can be a bit of a problem, and to be be a bit pest-prone.
Here is a picture of a fairly typical bunch of trunk thorns.
This tree is found in central USA, mainly in the moist soil of river valleys. However the tree is also tolerant of poor soil conditions, and it transplants easily. It is a very serious weed in the Midwest US, and in Australia. However although its roots may fix Nitrogen somehow, there are no Rhizobium-containing nodules! One theory is that the present distribution of the tree is much smaller than its potential - perhaps because it is now missing its megafaunal pollinator partner or partners.
A related species, Water Locust (Gleditsia aquatica), grows in swamps in the southeast United States, and has similar wood properties and anatomy. There are a few other species worldwide.
The leaves are typically pinnate, but may be bipinnate on young vigorous shoots. Each leaflet looks to be finely serrate, and also has a tiny mucronate tip.
The long flat pods are sweet and edible rather than toxic, to attract some large mammalian pollinator perhaps?
Here is a picture of a fairly typical bunch of trunk thorns.
This tree is found in central USA, mainly in the moist soil of river valleys. However the tree is also tolerant of poor soil conditions, and it transplants easily. It is a very serious weed in the Midwest US, and in Australia. However although its roots may fix Nitrogen somehow, there are no Rhizobium-containing nodules! One theory is that the present distribution of the tree is much smaller than its potential - perhaps because it is now missing its megafaunal pollinator partner or partners.
A related species, Water Locust (Gleditsia aquatica), grows in swamps in the southeast United States, and has similar wood properties and anatomy. There are a few other species worldwide.
The leaves are typically pinnate, but may be bipinnate on young vigorous shoots. Each leaflet looks to be finely serrate, and also has a tiny mucronate tip.
The long flat pods are sweet and edible rather than toxic, to attract some large mammalian pollinator perhaps?
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