Introduced · Up to 27 m

Honey locust

Gleditsia triacanthos · Fabaceae

Honey locust is a slender, open tree with feathery leaves of many small leaflets, often bright yellow when young. Most planted in Britain are thornless. The ordinary thorny kind, rare in Britain, carries clumps of long spines on its trunk.

Often mistaken for false acacia. How to tell them apart →

Know it by

LeavesUp to 20 cm. On strong shoots the stalk branches into more pairs.

TwigsOn curling shoots, with three spines by each on thorny trees.

BarkThorny trees carry clumps of branched spines up to 20 cm.

Then check · ShapeSlender and open on a long, winding trunk, with mainly level branches and a crown thin enough to let light through.

How to identify a honey locust

cigazze, CC BY 4.0

Leaves

Up to 20 cm, with many small leaflets in pairs. On strong shoots the stalk branches, each branch with its own pairs.

sblumen, CC BY 4.0

Twigs

Curling shoots with tiny orange buds about 1 mm across, and on thorny trees three spines beside each bud.

Bark

Purplish grey with wide, raised ridges. Thorny trees carry clumps of branched spines up to 20 cm long on the trunk.

Learn the honey locust in TreelyEvery part through the year, and a short round each day until you know it.Get Treely

Every part, in photographs

Honey locust leaves: small leaflets in pairs, the stalk often branched — LeavesSmall leaflets in pairs, the stalk often branched

Honey locust flowers: thin greenish tails, easy to miss — FlowersThin greenish tails, easy to miss

Honey locust pods: long, very dark pods that twist and rattle — PodsLong, very dark pods that twist and rattle

Honey locust bark: purplish grey, wide ridges, spine clumps — BarkPurplish grey, wide ridges, spine clumps

Honey locust twigs: curling twigs, minute orange buds — TwigsCurling twigs, minute orange buds

When to look

JFMAMJJASOND

In leaf

Flowers

Pods

In leaf: May to October · Flowers: June · Pods: September to November

Every tree on the calendar · How to identify trees in winter

Where you’ll find it

Planted in streets and parks, and fairly common in places in the warmer parts of Britain. It does better in the south of England, where the summers are hotter. It needs full sun, and copes with polluted air, salt spray and hard, trodden soil.

What it’s mistaken for

Honey locust or false acacia?Both are pea-family trees with feathered leaves, and both can carry thorns.Trunk

Honey locust or rowan?Both have feathered leaves and grow in streets and gardens.Leaflet edge

Honey locust or common ash?Both are big trees with feathered leaves, and both look thin and open once the leaves have fallen.Leaflets

Honey locust or laburnum?Both are pea-family trees with hanging pods, planted in gardens and parks.Leaflets on one leaf

More the pea family

Judas treeCercis siliquastrum

In the app

There’s more of the honey locust in Treely

Every part, through the yearLeaves, bark, buds, flowers and fruit, photographed in every season
Its lookalikes, side by sideThe checks that settle it, part by part
A short round each dayUntil you know the honey locust on sight, from any side
Name it from a photoA leaf, the bark or a flower, and Treely tells you which tree

App Store Google Play

Free to download.

Every fact on this page is checked against the Collins Tree Guide, last in November 2026. Spotted something that looks wrong in front of a real tree? Tell us. How we check.

Photographs: cigazze (CC BY 4.0), sblumen (CC BY 4.0), Leon Cross (CC BY 4.0), Sandy Wolkenberg (CC BY 4.0), Tomás Carranza Perales (CC BY 4.0), loverseed (CC0), bobwardell (CC0), steve_mcwilliam (CC0). With thanks to everyone who shares their photographs on iNaturalist and Wikimedia Commons.