Family: Fabaceae
Honey-Locust
Botanical Illustration
Wisconsin is at the northern edge of the range of this species, and it occurs natively along the Mississippi, Wisconsin, Kickapoo, Pine, Sugar, and Rock Rivers in floodplain forests, often around swales, streams, and marshy borders; it can also be found at the bases of cliffs, on wooded bluffs, and in oak-hickory woods and bluff and cliff prairies. Populations collected along roadsides and railroads, and fields, fencerows, and farmyards north of its native range are no doubt introduced. Collections made from such areas in the counties where it is native may be from wild or introduced individuals. This is a widely planted street tree with numerous cultivars having been developed for fall color and crown architecture. Cultivated trees lack the large and vicious thorns and are f. inermis (Pursh) Fassett. Gleditsia and Gymnocladus produce the largest dry fruits of any of our native or introduced plants. Like Cercis, Gleditsia will sometimes produce flowers along the trunk and older branches, a phenomenon usually seen in tropical trees and termed cauliflory,
