yellow locust

[treeman82]

I remember posting a thread on here earlier in the year about a DEAD ash tree. I remember that several people on here had no idea about the properties of ash trees. So, I am now wondering about how many on here are blessed with the ability to deal with yellow locust? I don't know of anybody around here that actually plants them, because they are more a weed than anything else. A friend of mine was down in PA a couple of months ago, and he told me that he hasn't seen any locusts down there.

 

[NeTree]

The few I've removed were a real... prick...

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Never seen a yellow locust, but we have quite a few Honey Locust around here. I made the mistake once of bidding a honey locust that was in the neighbors yard from a distance of about 50 meters. Once I was done with the cotton wood in the neighbors yard I got into the locust. I did not take a close up look at the tree but it turned out to have spines growing out in clumps all through out the tree. Needless to say I got my throw ball stuck and broke off the cheap fly lite throw line I had bought at the time. I had to do the monkey humper and toss monkeys fists to get to a good central crotch to trim this tree. That has to be my worst experience ever. I got it done, and scored an extra $250 for the day. That was definately not worth me gettin poked hundreds of times by those spines. I have done a lot of Honey Locusts that dont have any spines, whats up with these ones that have them growing out from the trunk?

Kenn

 

[NeTree]

How'd ya like to gaff out on one of these?

 

[xander9727]

That looks more like a honey locust than a yellow locust.

 

[NeTree]

Exactly.

 

[heviarti]

if i had to take that out i'd skin it with my 10-10 first. we have alot of black locust around here, and let me tell you, black locust has some pretty amazing properties.... (read: 100 year fence posts) but they are stickery bastages.. not as bad as russian olive, however.

 

[glens]

Thornless honeylocust is a fairly popular shade tree.

"Yellow" locust must be <a href="http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/rpseudoacacia.htm" target="_blank">black locust</a> and they are prevalent here in west central Indiana.&nbsp; Good firewood, few spines, relatively light-weight.&nbsp; Great to be around in the spring when flowering for both appearance and aroma.

Glen

 

[Nickrosis]

Matt, are you talking about Robinia pseudoacacia? It's usually called black locust like glen mentioned, and they always have spines. What do you want to know about it?

Old honey locusts, Gleditsia triacanthos, are often the ones with the spines and many wild or naturalized ones you'll find will be covered in thorns.

So younger, human-planted trees are usually the Gleditsia triacanthos 'inermis' varieties, meaning "without thorns." A lot nicer for a shade tree. But the thorny ones make great hedges like hawthorns. Just as a UK resident. ROLLACOSTA?

 

[Ax-man]

I hope this isn't off topic, but we are discussing Loucust trees.

Someone told me this year that it is only the female of the common Honey Loucust species that get the thorns on the stem. I'm not up on the sex life of a Loucust tree, but I thought both sexes were present on the same plant.

Anyone got an answer to this one??

 

[glens]

The (honeylocust) <a href="http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/silvics_manual/Volume_2/gleditsia/triacanthos.htm" target="_blank">species is</a> <a href="http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/polygamodioecious" target="_blank">polygamo-dioecious</a>

 

[Nickrosis]

From the USFS website under Vegetative Reproduction:

Honeylocust thorn production usually diminishes gradually and finally ceases in the upper and outer crown growth as the tree ages. Thorns may still be produced on the lower trunk and on lower-trunk and limb sprouts. Typical trees, 10 years old or more, show a definite thornless region in the upper and outer shoot growth. When hardwood cuttings for propagation are taken from this thornless area, the scions generally remain thornless (6). Tree breeders can control the sex of scions from honeylocust by selecting unisexual budwood when taking cuttings. Certain branches bear only one type of flower, and trees from cuttings from those branches will bear only that type (14).

 

[roachy]

Lots of Locust in PA Honey and Black .Small thorns on the black make your ground people grab the tuff gloves .

 

[treeman82]

No thorns on the yellow locusts I work on normally. Black locusts, are few and far between when it comes to working on locust trees. I love them though, because they are so stringy, and have such wonderful narrow crotches.

 

[geofore]

locust

I've put in over two miles of fence using locust posts, 8"-14" diameter 10' long, 4 1/2' in 5 1/2' showing. It is easiest to put them in with a pile driver like they use to put guide rails in. It takes about nine hits to get them 4 1/2' in the ground. No need to point the ends cause the machine can push the flat end through asphalt without splitting the posts. The locust used to be planted on farms around here for fence lines. They were also planted on old spoil banks left from strip mining to improve the soil. Only lost one post in 25 years, a car hit it, totaled the car and broke the post. Cut 700 trees to get 1,200 posts and one heck of a pile of firewood. Trees 40'-60' make better posts. The taller trees usually have problems, bugs, fungi and woodpeckers building nests, smaller trees usually don't have the diameter needed. Most of the black locust here are turning brown because of the beetles eating the leaves and the honey locust have been under attack from the catipillars that spin the silk nests the past 3 years.

 

[BlackSmith]

the leaf miner has killed about all of my black locust geofore.

 

[glens]

Originally posted by treeman82
No thorns on the yellow locusts I work on normally. Black locusts, are few and far between when it comes to working on locust trees.

I'm confused.&nbsp; The only references I can find to "yellow locust" are as an alternative common name for black locust.&nbsp; Are you saying your yellows are different from your blacks?&nbsp; In my experience, black locust do have thorns, but they're few and short, not abundant long spines like those of honeylocust.

Glen

 

[Nickrosis]

:Eye: want pics.

 

[treeman82]

The blacks are the ones with the lovely spines, the yellows are spineless and narrow crotched.

 

[glens]

Which ones are you calling what?
<form method="post" action="http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/data_results_with_common.cfm">&nbsp; &nbsp; State: <select name="state" id="state"><option value="NY" selected>New York</select>
&nbsp; &nbsp; common name: <input type="text" name="common" size="35" maxlength="35" value="locust">
&nbsp; &nbsp; <input type="submit" name="Search" value="Display Matching Species"></form>Then try it with "yellow locust" just for kicks.

Glen