Leaves: Alternate, often doubly pinnately compound with many leaflets; leaflets oblong to oblong-lanceolate, rounded or slightly pointed tip, slightly asymmetrical base, minutely toothed along edges, smooth except for some airs along the veins. Up to 1½“long, less than half as wide.
Buds: Dark brown, rounded, nearly hidden beneath the leaf scars, smooth ⅛” long.
Bark: Dark brown, deeply furrowed, and scaly at maturity.
Twigs: Slender, angular, reddish-brown, smooth, zigzag. With 3 parted or unbranched thorns; leaf scars, alternate, average 3 lobed, with 3 bundle traces.
Flowers: Small yellowish flowers appearing in May and June. Some flowers with both stamens and pistils, others with only one or the other, in elongated clusters up to 3” long.
Fruits: Elongated legumes up to 1½ feet long and 2” wide, flat, purple-brown, containing sever seeds embedded in thick pulp.
Wood: Hard, coarse-grained, reddish-brown.
Uses: Fence posts, coarse construction.
Habitat: Moist, wooden ravines, thickets, along roads.
Growth Form: Medium tree, reaching heights of 70 feet tall, trunk diameter up to 3’. Its crown broadly rounded often with dropping outer branches, trunk straight, usually with large, purple-brown three-parted thorns. Found in moist, wooded ravines, thickets along roads, from New York across to South Dakota, south to Texas, east to Florida.
Distinguishing Feature: The tree derives the name “honey” from the sweet, sticky pulp substance found in its pods. Honey locust has more leaflets than any other tree found in Illinois.