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Gerald L. Klingaman
Fabaceae
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honeylocust
Distinguished by its fine-textured summer leaves and its informal spreading habit, this popular medium to large deciduous tree is native to the central and eastern United States and extreme southern Ontario. Most cultivated honeylocusts are sterile, non-fruiting selections of the thornless variety Gleditisia triacanthos f. inemris.
The bright green, pinnately compound leaves of this cold-hardy tree cast filtered shade. They flush relatively late in spring and turn dull yellow in autumn. Fallen leaves create relatively little mess. Large branched thorns arise on the branches as well as the trunk, which has gray-brown, shallowly fissured bark. Clusters of inconspicuous greenish flowers appear in spring. Fertile specimens of this tree bear large flat red-brown seedpods, but most cultivated selections are sterile and produce no fruit.
Honeylocust likes sun and is adapted to a wide variety of soil types. Thornless, sterile selections make good shade trees, although their overuse has led to increasing insect and disease problems. Fertile specimens can self-sow, invasively in areas such as eastern Australia.
9 - 1
3 - 9
1a, 1b, 2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20
Tree
Full Sun
Late Spring
Northeastern United States, Southeastern United States, North-Central United States, Central United States, South-Central United States, Canada
Acidic, Neutral, Alkaline
Well Drained
Loam
Drought, Salt
Fast
Average Water
Oval/Rounded
Summer
Insignificant
Yellow Green
Red, Brown
Light Green
Green, Light Green, Dark Green, Yellow Green
Light Yellow
Brown, Sandy Brown, Gray
Yes
No
Single
Fine
Matte
Fissured
Feature Plant, Shade Trees, Street Trees
Sometimes
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