HONEY LOCUST; THREE-THORNED ACACIA (Gleditsia triacanthos, Linn.). 70 to 140 feet. Large, handsome tree with rigid, horizontal branches, and twigs with three-pronged thorns, set singly or in clusters upon the second-year twigs. Bark rough, dark, furrowed; twigs smooth, brown. Wood red dish brown, hard, durable, heavy, used for hubs, fencing, and fuel. Buds clustered, almost buried in the bark in winter. Leaves 7 to 8 inches long, compound, once or twice, the leaf lets narrowly oval, set opposite on the stem; yellow in autumn.
Flowers inconspicuous, regular, greenish, in crowded racemes, the two sexes separate on the same or different trees. Fruit a purple, S-shaped pod, 6 to 18 inches long, flat, with many seeds, hard, brown, flat. Dist.: New York to Michigan; south to Mississippi and Texas. Preferred habitat, rich, moist soil. A handsome shade and ornamental tree.