{"id":20069,"date":"2022-09-26T08:37:58","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T12:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=20069"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:51:40","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:51:40","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-indiana-black-locust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-indiana-black-locust\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Black Locust"},"content":{"rendered":"

The classic and trusted book “Fifty Common Trees of Indiana” by T.E. Shaw was\u00a0published in 1956 as a user-friendly guide to local species.\u00a0\u00a0Nearly 70 years later, the publication has\u00a0been updated through a joint effort by the Purdue Department of Forestry and Natural Resources,\u00a0Indiana 4-H<\/a>, and\u00a0the\u00a0Indiana Department of Natural Resources<\/a>, and reintroduced as “An Introduction to Trees of Indiana.”<\/p>\n

The\u00a0full publication<\/a>\u00a0is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.\"Drawing<\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book, paired with an\u00a0ID That Tree video from Purdue Extension forester\u00a0Lenny Farlee<\/a>\u00a0to help visualize each species as it stands in the woods.\u00a0Threats to species\u00a0health\u00a0as well as\u00a0also\u00a0insight into the wood provided by the species, will be provided\u00a0through additional resources as well as the\u00a0Hardwoods of the Central Midwest<\/a> exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we introduce the black locust or\u00a0Robinia pseudoacacia.<\/em><\/p>\n

This tree has compound leaves that are eight to 10 inches long, made up of seven to 17 small rounded leaflets arranged alternately on the twigs. The black locust has thorns on the twig where the buds and leaf stems branch off and also on the limbs and trunks of young trees. The bark is a light to medium gray marked by very rough, long running ridges. An orange coloration can be seen when scraping the bark surface.<\/p>\n

In the spring, black locust produces long hanging clusters of fragrant white flowers. It is a member of the broad legume family and its fruit resembles a bean, with brown or black pods that are approximately three inches long and very thin and papery.<\/p>\n