{"id":20114,"date":"2022-09-28T11:57:05","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T15:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=20114"},"modified":"2025-07-29T10:37:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T14:37:26","slug":"intro-to-trees-of-in-honey-locust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/intro-to-trees-of-in-honey-locust\/","title":{"rendered":"Intro to Trees of Indiana: Honey 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> is available for download for $7 in the Purdue Extension Education Store. The field guide helps identify common Indiana woodlot trees.\"Drawing<\/a><\/p>\n

Each week, the Intro to\u00a0Trees of Indiana web\u00a0series will offer a sneak peek at one species from the book,\u00a0paired 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>\u00a0exhibit of the Purdue Arboretum, if available.<\/p>\n

This week, we introduce the honey locust or\u00a0Gleditsia triacanthos.<\/em><\/p>\n

This tree, also called \u201cthorn-tree,\u201d has multi-pronged thorns of two inches or more in length, which occur on the trunk as well as on the limbs and twigs. Honey locust can be found with doubly compound leaves with very small oval leaflets arranged alternately on the main leaf stem, or it can have singly compound leaves with very small leaves on a straight stem. Leaves produce a bright yellow fall color.<\/p>\n

The bark is tight and red-brown on young trees and features gray-brown scaly strips on older trees. The fruit of the honey locust is a wavy, glossy brown flat pod that reaches lengths of between eight inches and one foot and curl or twist at maturity. These pods, which contain several seeds, are held on the tops of the trees and are highly favored by wildlife.<\/p>\n

Honey locusts grow 70 to 80 feet tall.<\/p>\n