{"id":236,"date":"2025-09-25T18:33:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T22:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/?p=236"},"modified":"2025-09-25T18:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T22:33:31","slug":"honey-locust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/honey-locust\/","title":{"rendered":"Honey Locust"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns sidebar is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em><em>Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis<\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"is-style-intro\">Honey locusts are large deciduous trees in the legume family with small leaves, pod-shaped fruits, and large thorns. Incredibly tough by nature and requiring minimal clean-up, honey locusts are one of the most planted trees in street tree plantings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-group boxout has-light-green-background-color has-background is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-12dd3699 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Location<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Hadwen Arboretum is home to one honey locust right at the Lovell Street entrance.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:50%\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" src=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/honey-locust-leaf.jpg\" alt=\"Honey Locust Tree leaves\" class=\"wp-image-238\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/honey-locust-leaf.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/honey-locust-leaf-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/honey-locust-leaf-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:4rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull section-intro has-light-warm-gray-background-color has-background is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-28f84493 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-stretch is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div style=\"background-image:url(&apos;https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/97\/honey-locust-tree.jpg&apos;);background-position:50% 50%;background-size:cover;\" class=\"wp-block-group padded lifted has-white-background-color has-background wp-container-content-69bc4bdf is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div style=\"height:25.625rem\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group padded has-charcoal-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-38b78eb9c2616baf9e77f8bde4cd1266 is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">History at Hadwen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"intro has-medium-font-size\">There are no formal records of honey locusts in the Hadwen Arboretum until 2020 and the species was not referenced by Hadwen in any known documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group section is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\"><div style=\"color:var(--clarku-color-green)\" class=\"eyebrow  has-text-align-left\">Keep learning<\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Detailed species information<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Honey locust is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to the central United States. A fast-growing tree, honey locusts typically reach heights of 65\u2013100 feet (20\u201330 meters). In the wild, honey locusts have large thorns that grow out of branches and the base of the tree. These thorns are 1\u20134 inches (3\u201310 centimeters) in length, hardening with age, and are commonly believed to have evolved to defend the tree from the now-extinct megafauna. The bark of the honey locust is dark gray and forms fissures with maturity. The leaves of the tree are pinnately compound. Each leaflet is \u2155 to 1 inch (1.5\u20132.5 centimeters) in length and vibrant green in color. In the fall, these leaves turn a range of vibrant yellows. Honey locusts have small, off-white, male and female flowers on separate trees that emerge in late spring. The fruit of the honey locust is a large, twisting pod typical of those in the legume family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honey locust is an adaptable species and can thrive in many environments outside its native habitat, which consists of rich, moist river valleys. A pioneer species, the honey locust can be found in disturbed areas, overgrown fields, and fence lines. It is so hardy that it can become invasive in some areas; for example, in Australia, honey locust has become a major agricultural weed, forming thickets in waterways and pastures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The wood of the honey locust is strong, rot-resistant, and workable but not particularly commercially available. It has been widely cultivated and planted on campuses, streets, parks, and gardens. It is extensively used in urban forestry due to its tolerance to salt, heat, drought, and compaction, as well as small leaflets that require minimal cleanup. The most commonly planted cultivar of honey locust is Gleditsia triacanthos var. Inermis. This cultivar is a thornless variety that lines streets in many United States towns and cities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Honey locusts are large deciduous trees in the legume family with small leaves, pod-shaped fruits, and large thorns. Incredibly tough by nature and requiring minimal clean-up, honey locusts are one of the most planted trees in street tree plantings. Location The Hadwen Arboretum is home to one honey locust right at [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":238,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trees"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Honey Locust | Hadwen Arboretum | Clark University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.clarku.edu\/hadwen-arboretum\/trees\/honey-locust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Honey Locust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Honey locusts are large deciduous trees in the legume family with small leaves, pod-shaped fruits, and large thorns. Incredibly tough by nature and requiring minimal clean-up, honey locusts are one of the most planted trees in street tree plantings. 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content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carol D&#039;Onofrio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/honey-locust\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.clarku.edu\\\/hadwen-arboretum\\\/trees\\\/honey-locust\\\/\"},\"headline\":\"Honey 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