Common Name: Honey Locust
Scientific Name: Gleditsia triacanthos forma inermis
Location: Blanton-Nason-Brewer
Identifying Features
The honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), also known as the thorny locust, is a deciduous tree in the Fabaceae family, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey locust is highly adaptable to different environments, has been introduced worldwide, and is an aggressive invasive species.
Needs Distribution/Geography
Honeylocust is found scattered in the East-Central United States from central Pennsylvania westward to southeastern South Dakota, south to central and southeastern Texas, east to southern Alabama, then northeasterly through Alabama to western Maryland.
Click here to see a map of where the Honey Locust can be found.
Uses
Timber from honey locust has been used as fence posts, railroad ties, furniture, warehouse or shipping pallets, tool handles and fuel.
History
One of the first documented uses of honey locust timber was by the Cherokee in Tennessee who used it to make bows. Native Americans have also used the crushed seed pods, for which the tree was named, as a sweetening agent and as a minor food source.
Fun Fact
The species is a major invasive environmental and economic weed in agricultural regions of Australia. In other regions of the world, ranchers and farmers who employ monocropping deem honey locust a nuisance weed; its fast growth allows it to out-compete grasses and other crops.