aka. honey locust, thorny locust, thorny honeylocust, honey shucks locust, sweet bean tree, sweet locust, thorny locust, green locust tree
Native to central North America, growing in river valleys with moist soil, introduced worldwide for its adaptability, but can be an invasive damaging species outside of its natural range. Grows extremely fast, up to 20-30m and flowers in spring. Fruits are a type of legume with edible pulp (used as food and medicinal plant by Native Americans, also used to make tea) that matures in early autumn.
Has cultivars like 'Beatrice', 'Continental', 'Elegantissima', 'Emerald Kascade', 'Imperial', 'Shademaster', 'Skyline' and 'Sunburst'. Gleditsa is named after the German botanist Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, and triacanthos means 'three thorns' in Greek
phylum: Angiospermae > class: Eudicots > order: Fabales > family: Fabaceae > genus: Gleditsia > species