Features
Branching Out
Editor’s note: This is one in a series of columns highlighting some of the tree species found on campus. It is written by certified arborist Rob Shaw-Lukavsky, a gardener in the Grounds Department.
Directly south of Creelman Hall stands a stately honey locust tree. This species is probably familiar to most members of the University community and can be found lining all the east-to-west pedestrian walkways on campus. Whereas the walkway trees require pruning to maintain light, building and overhead clearances, the Creelman tree is left to sprawl to its heart's content.
With its distinctive vase shape, the honey locust is reminiscent of the American elm and is often used as a replacement for that tree. Along the red brick walks, the honey locust branches meet overhead to form a canopied ceiling that provides just the right amount of shade and sunlight. In the growing season, the canopy is made up of small delicate leaflets. In the fall, the leaves turn golden yellow.
The fruit pods on female trees hang on through the winter, dangling on the branch tips and looking like flattened purple bananas. It's these pods that are the source of the common name "locust" because the sound of the dried fruit pods clacking in the wind is apparently similar to the sound of swarming insects. The "honey" portion of the name refers to the taste of the pulp in the seed pods.
The honey locust trees on campus are a cultivated form. The true species is identical except for the vicious barbs and thorns that protrude from the trunk and branches. The true species is also rare and is actually considered endangered. The cultivated form, on the other hand, is extremely common and, not surprisingly, is grown for landscape purposes to be thorn-free.
Honey locusts are incredibly tough trees that tolerate all the hardships of urban life with relative ease. They handle soil compaction, cold and heat better than most trees, and as members of the legume family, they fix their own nitrogen and essentially fertilize themselves.