Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gleditsia triacanthos
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Learn more about Honey Locust from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gleditsia triacanthos
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Gleditsia triacanthos
SYNONYMOUS WITH Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Gleditsia triacanthos
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-06-001:
Gleditsia triacanthos FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Gleditsia triacanthos
COMMON NAME:
Honey Locust
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
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Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p41
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Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_640
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_gltr_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_gltr_009_lhd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / USDA Wetland flora: Field office illustrated guide pnd_gltr_011_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm0401e_21
January Greenville County SC
Roadside
Fruit a brown legume 6-18" long containing a sticky sugar-rich pulp, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm42911_3
April Spartanburg County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_gleditsia_triacanthos
April
)
JK Marlow jkm0405v_17
May Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm130513_941
May Spartanburg County SC
Pistillate flowers in solitary racemes (fewer-fowered than staminate racemes), per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
JK Marlow jkm130513_943
May Spartanburg County SC
Legumes just beginning to emerge.
)
JK Marlow jkm190506_8150
May Greenville County SC
Swamp Rabbit Trail
)
JK Marlow jkm210508_0212
May Oconee County SC
Ramsey Creek Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210513_0264
May Oconee County SC
Boone's Creek Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210513_0269
May Oconee County SC
Boone's Creek Preserve
)
JK Marlow jkm210513_0273
May Oconee County SC
Boone's Creek Preserve
Young bark thin, dark, with prominent raised lenticels, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm5210_091
May Spartanburg County SC
Staminate flowers numerous, in often fascicled racemes 5-10cm long, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm5210_091b
May Spartanburg County SC
Flowers greenish-yellow, 1/4" long, clustered in compact racemes, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_g_triacanthos_8
May MA
Arnold Arboretum
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_g_triacanthos_sunburs
May MA
Arnold Arboretum
)
JK Marlow jkm0406l_20
June Pickens County SC
Field
)
JK Marlow jkm0406m_15
June Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
)
JK Marlow s100701_a
July Greenville County SC
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_g_triacanthos_4
September
)
JK Marlow s081018_c
October Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Leaves either pinnate (18-28 leaflets) or bipinnate (8-14 pinnae), per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
COMPARE
bipinnately or tripinnately compound leaves of trees
)
JK Marlow jkm0311h_25
November Greenville County SC
Bunched Arrowhead Heritage Preserve
Strong thorns are frequently branched, per Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001).
)
JK Marlow jkm061111_028
November Chester County SC
Field
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Gleditsia triacanthos
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Gleditsia triacanthos
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Gleditsia triacanthos
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Native & naturalized Leguminosae (Fabaceae) of the US (Isely, 1998)
Gleditsia triacanthos
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-06-001:
Gleditsia triacanthos
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Gleditsia triacanthos
614
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: woodlands, forests (generally bottomland), fencerows, often planted as a street tree, per Weakley's Flora
Native to parts of the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Carolina Piedmont & SC Mountains (uncommon to rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Armed with formidable thorns, simple and/or branched
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Evenly 1- or 2-pinnately compound (often on the same plant)
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Greenish-yellow
3-5 sepals
3-5 petals
3-10 exserted stamens
Superior ovary
Bisexual & unisexual
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 1st ed. (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p398
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p242
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p116
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p145
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p072
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p13
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p154
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