THE HONEY LOCUST TREE

FALL COLOR ON THE SIOUX RIVER ABOVE THE BIG ROCK

HONEY LOCUST FALL COLOR

Monday, 8:30 AM.  44 degrees F, wind NNE, with some strong gusts.  It is still raining, after we received a half an inch last night.  The humidity is 93% and the barometer has turned upwards, now at 30.19".  The weather guys can't make up their minds about the forecast for Applefest, alternately predicting sun and now rain.  If they can't make a prediction a week out I am at a loss as to how they can predict the weather twenty years from now.  But rain or shine, Applefest will be fun, so do come.

   Magnificent fall color is evident everywhere now, along the river banks as well as the roadsides, but the majority of the woodlands are still green.

   The thornless honey locust, Gleditsia triacanthos var.  inermis, in the legume family (Leguminosae), 

has been used, perhaps overused, as a street and landscape tree ever since the onslaught of Dutch elm disease a generation ago. Native to rich forests of the central and southern Midwest,  it has very small compound leaflets and therefore is easier to clean up after in the fall.  Although it grows to be quite large, it  yields a more dappled and lighter shade than other trees so has its uses, but can be a misshapen and not particularly pleasing tree if not pruned properly.  It does have a bright golden fall leaf color that can make a nice statement, and since it is a legume and fixes nitrogen it is also a good tree for sandy and poor soil conditions.
   The species itself is far too thorny for any practical ornamental use (the species name refers to the vicious three-progned thorns, the variety name to the lack thereof). There have been many patented trees produced by nurseries over the years from the thornless variety, some of which, such as 'Moraine' are superior for street tree and landscape use.  The "honey" of the common name refers to the sweet, gummy, edible substance surrounding the seeds inside the large, long pods that this leguminous tree produces.   It has been theorized that the "locusts" that the King James translation of the Bible refers to the Israelites eating in their migrations in the desert were the edible seed pods of the Middle eastern locust trees that grow there.  Many modern varieties do not produce seed pods.