Gleditsia

Gleditsia
Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Fabales
Family:	Fabaceae
Subfamily:	Caesalpinioideae
Tribe:	Caesalpinieae
Genus:	Gleditsia
Species
See text.

Gleditsia /ɡlˈdɪtsiə/ (locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to North America and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died in 1786.

There are 12 species:

• Gleditsia amorphoides (Griseb.) Taubert
• Gleditsia aquatica Marshall - Water locust
• Gleditsia australis F. B. Forbes & Hemsley
• Gleditsia caspica Desf. - Caspian locust
• Gleditsia delavayi Franchet
• Gleditsia fera (Lour.) Merr.
• Gleditsia ferox Desf.
• Gleditsia japonica Miq. - Japanese honey locust
• Gleditsia macracantha Desf.
• Gleditsia microphylla Isely
• Gleditsia sinensis Lam. - Chinese honey locust
• Gleditsia triacanthos L. - Honey locust
  • Gleditsia triacanthos inermis - Thornless honey locust

Hybrids

• Gleditsia × texana Sarg. - Texas honey locust (G. aquatica × G. triacanthos)

Medicinal use

G. sinensis is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in Chinese herbology, where it is called zào jiá (皂荚).

Bibliography

• Philips, Roger. Trees of North America and Europe, Random House, Inc., New York ISBN 0-394-50259-0, 1979.