Imperial Honey Locust
Scientific Name: Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis ‘Imperial’
Family: Leguminosae
Origin: Central North America
Why is this tree called a Honey Locust ? Honey comes from the sweet taste of the legume pulp that was eaten by Native Americans.
Why is its scientific name so long? It is a thornless variety of the Honey Locust. The species name triacanthos is Latin for three-parted thorns. The variety name inermis is Latin for unarmed or without thorns. It is also a cultivar (a cultivated variety) that is named Impcole and is sold using the name Imperial.
Common Names: Imperial Thornless Honey Locust
Mature Height: 30-35 feet, smaller than other Honey Locusts
Mature Width/Spread: 30-35 feet
Leaves: The bipinnately compound leaves are fern-like, with numerous dark green rounded leaflets with serrated edges.
In the fall, the leaves become: yellow
Did you know …
- This tree has fragrant small yellow-green blossoms with stalks that have a spike appearance.
- The wood from this tree is very durable, and has been used to make fence posts. Also, the Cherokee Indians would use the tree’s wood to make bows.
Sources
https://conservationgardenpark.org/plants/157/imperial-honeylocust
https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=852
https://www.mortonarb.org/trees-plants/tree-plant-descriptions/thornless-honey-locust
https://landscapeplants.oregonstate.edu/plants/gleditsia-triacanthos-var-inermis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honey_locust
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=245902
http://hort.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/gletrib.pdf
Photo Credit
Photos courtesy of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Tree species information from http://forestry.ohiodnr.gov/honeylocust
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
PAGE INFORMATION WAS COMPILED AS PART OF NOAH WERNING’S 2020 EAGLE SCOUT PROJECT.