Gleditsia

Gleditsia 

a genus of deciduous trees of the Caesal-piniaceae family. Gleditsia have simple and branched thorns on trunk and limbs. The leaves are compound pinnate. The flowers are bisexual and unisexual, small, greenish, in abbreviated axillary racemes. The fruit is a long, flat pod with lenticular seeds. There are 11 or 12 species in Asia, North and South America, and tropical Africa. In the USSR there is one species (G. caspia) growing wild in the forests of Talysh (eastern Transcaucasia) and seven cultivated species; of these only the North American common honey locust (G. triacanthos) is widely distributed in the southern European part of the USSR and in Central Asia in parks and gardens, on streets, and in hedgerows. The tree is thermophilic and photophilic, drought-resistant, and tolerant of some soil salinity. It is used for forestation of steppes and protective forest zones. The hard dense wood of Gleditsia is used in the manufacture of items for joinery and lathe work, crossties, and posts. It is a good nectar producer.

REFERENCES

Derev’ia i kustarniki SSSR, vol. 4. Moscow-Leningrad, 1958.
Grozdov, B. V. Dendrologiia, 2nd ed. Moscow-Leningrad, 1960.

S. K. CHEREPANOV