Black vs Honey Locust Trees
Black locust and honey locust trees grow in places with sunny or warm temperatures. Learning the environment in which a particular tree has grown is important in choosing your wood. In both black locust and honey locust trees, the climate and the environmental conditions under which they have grown greatly affect their nature. Sunny climates are known to be conducive to both these trees.
What is a Black Locust Tree?
Black locust tree is a native tree in southeastern United States that can grow as high as 60 to 80 feet. The biological name of the tree is Robinia pseudoacacia. The tree has a rough bark but does not have any thorns extruding from its trunks. The bark is somewhat of a dark brown colour with grooves upon it, making it look as if a large rope has been tied around it. The black locust tree has simple compound leaves that hang on every branch. Its flowers are white, lavender or purple in colour and are known to be intensely fragrant. The seed pods on a black locust can grow to about 2-5 inches, smaller than that of the honey locust.The black locust can be found in various parts of the world such as Asia, North America, South Africa and Europe.
What is a Honey Locust Tree?
The honey locust tree, also known as thorny locust (Biological name – Gleditsia triacanthos) is a tree that is widely grown in the central eastern region. It can grow as high as 50 to 70 feet tall with a trunk diameter of about 1 meter. The bark of the honey locust tree is gray to brown in colour. However, instead of grooves, the honey locust tree has thorns that seem to grow from anywhere, because of which it gains its name. The older honey locust trees have feather shaped pinnately compound leaves whereas in younger trees, the leaves are bipinnately compound. The seed pods of a honey locust tree are huge and can grow up to a foot long or 12 inches.
What is the difference between Black and Honey Locust Trees?
Both black and honey locusts trees have beautiful white flowers that have a very aromatic fragrance. The colour of these flowers can range from a beautiful white to purple. Both trees are quite big and tall because of which they are easily confused with one another. However, both trees feature certain distinct characteristics which help to tell the difference between black and honey locust trees. Although both are grown or are native in warm areas, they can still survive in areas outside of their native land.
- A black locust has a rough dark brown bark whereas a honey locust tree has a bark that is gray to brownish colour.
- Honey locust trees have thorns surrounding the bark whereas a black locust tree has grooves on it that resembles ropes but not thorns.
- Leaves on a black locust are simple compound while a honey locust has feather shaped compound ones.
- The seed pods also differ, smaller seed pods about 2-5 inches are characteristic of a black locust tree. The honey locust, on the other hand, can grow pods to as long as 10-12 inches.
- The pulp of the honey locust fruit is edible while the fruits of the black locust is known to be toxic.