Honeylocust

Honeylocust

(Gleditsia Triacanthos)

This tree can be found in my neighborhood, a few blocks down from my house. It is planted right along the sidewalk in a yard so it isn't hard to find.

Honeylocust will be happy in many types of soil so they are perfect to grow in your yard. It's also very drought and salt tolerant so growing right by the road is perfectly suitable. It also prefers full sun, so you won't usually find them growing right next to other trees.

I think honeylocust is a really elegant looking tree with its long compound leaves. It also turns a beautiful golden yellow color in the fall. This particular subspecies doesn't have the feature, but some can also grow thorns right out of the trunk as a defense. The seed pods are very unique, they almost look like long twisted straps of leather than can get to 18 inches in length. I also find it impressive that the tree is so hardy, it doesn't seem to be bothered at all by the usual stresses of an urban environment.