Tree/Common Name: Honey Locust 

Scientific Name: Gleditsia triacanthos

Family: Fabaceae

Genus: Gleditsia

Species: Gleditsia triacanthos

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Faculty Bio: Helen Scotte Gordon joined the Moses Brown community in 1987, and served as the Director of College Counseling until 2015. In the words of Debbie Phipps, MB’s Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs, Scotte had the ability to make “whomever she was talking to feel as though he or she were the only person in the world...She could find a way to the heart of every student’s story.” 

Tree Information: Scotte’s tree, a Honey Locust, (Gleditsia triacanthos), was planted in her memory in 2015. It is located on the left-hand side of MB’s main drive, approaching the front circle.

Interesting/Fun Fact(s) about Tree: 

• Called the “honey” locust due to the sweet, sugary substance contained within its seed pods

• Produces leaves that turn  golden yellow in the fall

• Can serve as a food source for humans; seeds are edible, taste like peas, and can also be dried, roasted, and ground to be used as a coffee substitute

• Used extensively by wildlife for protection in the locusts’ thorny thickets

• Used in treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

• Can live up to 100 years and grow up to 100 feet tall.

• Was known as "Confederate Pin Tree" during the Second World War because needle-like thorns served as pins for the uniforms