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Species
Gleditsia triacanthos L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
More info for the term: natural
The natural range of honey-locust extends from central Pennsylvania
through extreme southern Ontario, extreme southern Michigan, southern
Wisconsin, and extreme southeastern Minnesota to extreme southeastern
South Dakota; south through eastern Nebraska to eastern Texas; east to
Alabama; and northeast along the western slopes of the Appalachians.
Isolated populations occur in northwestern Florida. Honey-locust is
naturalized east of the Appalachians as far north as Nova Scotia [16,27].
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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):
FRES14 Oak - pine
FRES15 Oak - hickory
FRES16 Oak - gum - cypress
FRES17 Elm - ash - cottonwood
FRES18 Maple - beech - birch
More info for the term: tree
Tree
Rows of honey-locust planted for windbreaks showed a positive response
to release [9].
In some areas honey-locust invades rangelands. Honey-locust is
susceptible to triclopyr and to a mixture of picloram and 2,4,-D [29].
Honey-locust is not usually subject to serious insect and disease
problems; however, with the increase in plantations of honey-locust,
there has been a concomitant increase in insect pests. Honey-locust is
host to a number of leaf feeders including spider mites, white marked
tussock moth, and honey-locust plant bug. The only serious disease of
honey-locust is a canker which is occasionally fatal [8].
Damage to young honey-locust is caused by rabbits gnawing the bark [8]
and by livestock and white-tailed deer browsing [8,36].
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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):
14 Great Plains
Honeylocust is found most commonly on soils in the orders Alfisols, Inceptisols, and Mollisols that originate from limestone or the rich alluvial floodplains of major rivers and streams. Growth is poor on gravelly or heavy clay soils and honeylocust often fails on shallow soils. Although ample soil moisture is necessary for best growth, the species is very resistant to drought. Because of this, it is a valuable species for shelterbelt planting in the Great Plains.
On 20 drought-resistant species of seedlings tested, honeylocust ranked third in alkali tolerance (7). The species is also tolerant of acid soils (26), but best development is usually on soils having a pH between 6.0 and 8.0. From tests incorporating artificially salinized soils, young honeylocusts were found to be tolerant of soil salinity (13). Seed germination was little influenced by as much as 0.20 percent of sodium chloride in the dry weight of soil (2). Salt tolerance has particular economic importance in the North where runoff from highway de-icing salts can damage plantings, and also where plantings are desired on saline soils in and states. Whether honeylocust can tolerate the cumulative effects of salinity over a period of years is still unknown.
Typically, honeylocust is a bottom land species, most commonly found only on moist fertile soils near streams or lakes. Although it is not common anywhere in the Mississippi River Delta, it frequently grows on low clay ridges and flats in first bottoms and on the secondary flood plains along the Missouri River tributaries in Nebraska.
Over its range honeylocust grows naturally below a maximum elevation of 610 to 760 m (2,000 to 2,500 ft), although the general upper elevational. limit for the species is reported as 1520 m (5,000 ft). A 20year-old plantation growing at 2100 m (6,900 ft) in Colorado had "good" survival, but trees averaged only 2.4 m (8 ft) in height (7).
Honeylocust is classed as intolerant of shade, and reproduction becomes established only beneath openings in the forest canopy (5). Both top and root growth are retarded where young trees are subjected to shade; therefore, for survival and optimum development, honeylocust must maintain a dominant position in the forest community. Lower limbs of forest-grown trees die when they are excessively shaded from the
sides, and the dead limbs often are retained for some time.
Honeylocust is occasionally a pioneer on midwest strip-mine spoil banks. It is also a pioneer in rocky limestone glades of Tennessee and Kentucky, where it is often succeeded by eastern redcedar (Juniperus uirginiana). In northern Ohio, honeylocust was found with shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa) and bur oak (Quercus macrocarpa) in the elm-ash-soft maple association on areas that formerly were swampy (7).
Contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (formerly Soil Conservation Service) office for more information. Look in the phone book under ”United States Government.” The Natural Resources Conservation Service will be listed under the subheading “Department of Agriculture.” These plant materials are readily available from commercial sources.
AL AR CT DE FL GA IN IL IA KS
KY LA OK MD MI MN MS MO NE NY
NC OH PA RI SC SD TN TX VA WI
WV NS ON
In the western portion of its range honeylocust grows in a subhumid climate while in the middle and eastern portions the climate is humid. Normal annual precipitation varies from about 510 mm (20 in) in South Dakota and Texas to more than 1520 mm (60 in) in southern Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. Average annual snowfall varies from none to 102 cm (40 in). Length of the growing season varies from about 150 days in the north and northeast to more than 300 days in the southern extremities of the range.
Honeylocust is tolerant of low temperatures and in the north it is hardy at -29° to -34° C (-20° to -30° F) (10). Northern races harden-off and become dormant relatively early, while growth of southern races continues later into the year. Southern races are subject to frost damage when planted in the north (7). Honeylocust also may suffer frost damage or dieback because of its indefinite or indeterminate annual growth pattern (4). Twigs may continue to elongate until stopped by cold, whereupon the tender terminal internodes are killed by the first frosts. New growth in the spring then comes from the lower lateral buds.