Details about map content are available here Click on the map dots to view record details.
Introduction
Black locust is deciduous weedy tree species in the Pea Family (Fabacaea). It is native to the southeastern United States but has been introduced across the US and parts of Canada where it has been used both ornamentally and in land reclamation (USDA 2010). In BC, it has escaped and naturalized in the southern part of the province in disturbed areas and forest edges. It is a tall (to 25 m), nearly glabrous, deciduous tree that reaches heights of 80 ft. It has dark-brown, deeply furrowed bark and prickly branches with alternate, large, and pinnate leaves that have (7) 11 to 21 leaflets. The white flowers are very fragrant, producing drooping, smooth, shiny pea pods that contain 4 to 8 seeds and remain on the branches in winter. It reproduces from seeds, suckers, and stump sprouts and can form thickets (Global Invasive Species Database 2010). Across its range, it is particularly invasive in "dry and sand prairies and oak savannas" (Global Invasive Species Database 2010).
View more photos of this species.
Species Information
Click on the image below to view an
expanded illustration for this species.
General: Fast-growing, spiny tree with thick, furrowed bark, to 25 m tall, often spreading by underground suckers.
Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, stalked, pinnately compound; leaflets 11 to 21, paired, lanceolate to elliptic-oval, 2-4 cm long, bright green on the upper surface, pale beneath; stipules modified into spines.
Flowers: Inflorescence a stalked, axillary, drooping raceme 10-14 cm long, of 30 to 70 fragrant, pea-like flowers; corollas white, 14-20 mm long, the banner yellow-blotched at the base; calyces bell-shaped, 5-6 mm long, densely hairy.
Fruits: Pods, oblong, flattened, 6-12 cm long, drooping, glabrous, becoming papery and darkening with age, persistent through winter.
Bailey, L. H. 1949. Manual of Cultivated Plants Most Commonly Grown in the Continental United States and Canada. MacMillan Publishing Co. Inc., New York. Revised Edition.
Global Invasive Species Database. 2010. Robinia pseudoacacia. Compiled by the National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII) & IUCN/SSC Invasive Species Specialist Group (ISSG).
Stone, Katharine R. 2009. Robinia pseudoacacia. In: Fire Effects Information System. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Available Online.
USDA. 2010. Plant profile for Robinia pseudoacacia. USDA Plants Database. United States Department of Agriculture. Available Online.
