Leaf
Hladac, Wikimedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Honey locust
Gleditsia triacanthos L.
Also known as: Thorny locust
Family: Fabaceae
15 to 25 m tall
Planted as a shade and urban avenue tree, notably as its thornless cultivars
Flowering: May – June
Full sun
Hardy to about -25°C
❓ How do you recognise this plant?
The wild tree bears formidable branched thorns that can exceed 10 cm, but the cultivars planted in towns lack them completely.
🍃 Leaves
Deciduous, compound, often bipinnate, small, numerous leaflets giving light shade
🌸 Flowers
Small, greenish, barely visible, grouped in racemes
🍎 Fruits
Long red-brown pods, twisted in a spiral, persisting on the tree in winter
🪵 Bark
Grey to brown, bearing long branched thorns on the trunk in the wild type
🗺️ Distribution
Native to eastern North America, widely planted in Europe as an urban tree
🐝 Value for pollinators
Nectar-rich flowers appreciated by bees
✂️ Horticultural uses
Thornless, golden-leaved cultivars such as 'Sunburst' are widely used as street trees for their light shade and tolerance of pollution
🌱 Known cultivars
'Sunburst'
This cultivar is recognised by its golden-yellow spring foliage (which then turns green in summer) and by the absence of the large branched thorns that bristle on the trunk and branches of the type species.
🌿 Other Fabaceae to discover
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.
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