Also called thorny locust.  Part of legume / pea  family Fabaceae and order Fabales.

Native to the 🇺🇸 USA lower Mississippi River basin, and surrounding areas.

Uses by native peoples
(Ethnobotany database)

Gleditsia hosts caterpillars of 43 species
of butterflies and moths, in some areas.   Planting info (SW Michigan) (.pdf).

In the wild, this tree's branches and trunk have large smooth thorns .

Honey locust have large tough seedpods, which contain sweet pulp and large seeds, with a thick waterproof coating that needs to be cut or abraded before 🌱︎ germination.  This seed protection probably evolved with, and to be spread by, 🐘︎ mammoth  genus Mammuthus or camel  family Camelidae.   After the Holocene extinction removed large herbivorous megafauna, poor seed-dispersal caused the plant's range to decline to the central 🇺🇸 USA.  Lately, cattle  genus Bos may have taken the role as seed disperser. [1]

References

[1]  "The Trees That Miss The Mammoths."  American Forests.  Winter 2010.   Accessed 2016-12-06.

Learn more about honey locust Gleditsia triacanthos

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