Black Locust

Description: Black locust has a shallow, aggressive root system. The bark of the Black locust is deeply furrowed and is dark reddish-brown to black in color. It has an alternate branching pattern, which creates a zigzag effect. A pair of sharp thorns grows at each node. They are ½ to ¾ inches long and very stout. The pinnately compound leaves are 8 to 14 inches long, with 7 to 19 short-stalked leaflets. The dull green leaflets are oval, 1 to 2 inches long, thin, rough above, and pale below. The separate male and female plants have sweetly fragrant flowers that are creamy-white with five petals (bean-like) arranged in a pyramidal spike. They usually bloom in May or June. Heavy seed production can be expected annually or biannually. The legume-type seed is produced in a flat, dark brown pod, which is 2 to 4 inches long. There is an average of 25,500 seeds per pound of pods. Although black locust is a good seed producer, its primary means of spread is by both rudimentary and adventitious root suckers.

https://plants.usda.gov/factsheet/pdf/fs_rops.pdf

Edible Parts: Flowers are edible, and may be eaten raw. Flowers battered and fried is a common preparation. The young green seed pods are considered to be edible. The seeds in the green pods are also edible, often prepared like dried beans. The seeds are small and difficult to gather in great numbers. I have only tried raw flowers in early May. The flowers have a delicate perfumy taste when eaten off of the tree. It is important that the flowers are fresh and new. If the center of the flower is a bright yellow, that is a clue that the flower is fresh. If the flowers start to wilt or brown they will be bitter and unpleasant to eat.

Notes: I initially assumed that the Black Locust was named “Locust” because it is so invasive and takes over like a “plague of locusts”. Though the tree is considered an invasive species, it is native to the United States Appalachian range, and Illinois. The tree’s common names originated from an English mariner, in the 1600s who noticed its resemblance to a European Locust tree aka the Carob tree.

Cool History:

Though the wood is not commonly found in the lumber yard it is one of the harder woods available. The Black Locust timber is so hard it helped the young American Navy defeat the British in 1812:

“One of the reasons circulated for the British Navy's defeat was that English ships were built with oak nails (the large pins or trunnels that hold the wooden members of a ship together), while American ships were built with locust nails. As a result, when the cannonballs from the American fleet hit the British ships, those ships came apart. But when the shot from the British ships hit the American fleet, their ships held together — and that is the reason they lost the Battle of Plattsburg Bay.

The very next year, the British began importing thousands of locust nails to refit the British Navy. By 1820, the Philadelphia market alone was exporting between 50,000 and 100,000 locust nails to England per year.”

http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:30034699-2

Contributor:

JRH