# Honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos)

> Honeylocust, Gleditsia triacanthos: a large tree of 30 to 80 feet for zones 3 to 9, when it flowers and fruits, and the natives we grow for the same ground.

Blue Whale Trees, a native tree nursery in the United States. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/species/honeylocust/

![Feathery honeylocust leaves turning yellow, with long, twisted dark red-brown seed pods hanging among them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/species/honeylocust-1000.jpg?v=da9e967d "Honeylocust leaves and pods in Valparaiso, Indiana, on October 11, 2021. The pods ripen from mid-September to mid-October and fall from then into late winter.")
*Photo: Chris Light, [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) ([source](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AHoney-locust_8126.jpg))*

Large tree, 30 to 80 feet, zones 3 to 9; full sun or part shade; dry, average or wet ground.

We do not grow honeylocust, and it is not in our shop. This page gathers what our tools say about it and the natives we grow for the same ground.

## At a glance

| Fact | Honeylocust |
| --- | --- |
| Other names | Thornless honeylocust, sweet locust, thorny locust, common honeylocust, honey shucks locust, sweet bean tree |
| Form | Large tree |
| Height, feet | 30 to 80 |
| Spread, feet | Up to 80 |
| Zones | 3 to 9 |
| Sun | Full sun or part shade |
| Soil moisture | Dry, average or wet ground |
| Growth | Medium |
| Leaves | Deciduous |
| Traits | Fall color, wildlife value, honey tree, hedge or screen, salt tolerant, erosion control |
| Flowers | May to June |
| Fruit | Pods, September to February |
| First crop | About 10 years (best from 25 to 75) |
| Pollination | Separate male and female trees. Most honeylocusts are male or female, with a few flowers that carry both parts, so pods come mainly on female trees with a male nearby. |
| Lifespan | Lives up to 169 years. |
| Transplanting | The Morton Arboretum's page on honeylocust marks it as one that transplants well. |
| Black walnut | Tolerant, on the Morton Arboretum's list as “honey-locust” |
| Ground | Floodplain forests, stream banks, dry uplands, old fields and edges |
| Native in | 27 states |

Honeylocust is native in 27 states: [Alabama](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AL), [Arkansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AR), [Florida](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=FL), [Georgia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=GA), [Illinois](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IL), [Indiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IN), [Iowa](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=IA), [Kansas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KS), [Kentucky](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=KY), [Louisiana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=LA), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Michigan](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MI), [Minnesota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MN), [Mississippi](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MS), [Missouri](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MO), [Nebraska](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NE), [North Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NC), [Ohio](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OH), [Oklahoma](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=OK), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [South Carolina](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SC), [South Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=SD), [Tennessee](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TN), [Texas](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=TX), [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA), [West Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WV) and [Wisconsin](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WI). The states are the USDA PLANTS Database's records, with the native range read from Silvics of North America and NatureServe Explorer. The USDA PLANTS Database also records it growing wild beyond that range in [Arizona](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=AZ), [California](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CA), [Colorado](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CO), [Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Idaho](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ID), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [Montana](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MT), [Nevada](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NV), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New Mexico](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NM), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [North Dakota](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ND), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI), [Utah](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=UT), [Vermont](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VT), [Wyoming](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=WY) and [the District of Columbia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DC), where it is naturalized, not native.

## What our tools say

- [How fast it grows and how big it gets, by site](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the growth estimator
- [Whether it suits your zone, sun and soil](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the planting-site check
- [How far from a house, wires and a septic field](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=honeylocust&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree): the planting-distance tool
- [What grows with it in the wild and in a yard](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the companion species tool
- [When to plant it where you live](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the planting-window tool
- [When it flowers and fruits, month by month](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=honeylocust): the bloom and fruit calendar
- [How to sow its seed, with dates for your place](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the seed sowing planner
- [How many to plant for a crop of seed](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=honeylocust:5): the pollination planner
- [Whether one you have can be moved, and what the move takes](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/transplant/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the transplant planner
- [How old one is, from its trunk](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/tree-age/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the tree age estimator
- [How a big one scores against the champion trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/big-tree/index.html.md?species=honeylocust): the big-tree measurer

## For the same ground, we grow

- [Common Hackberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/common-hackberry/index.html.md) (*Celtis occidentalis*): large tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Slippery Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/slippery-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus rubra*): medium tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 3 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Western Soapberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/western-soapberry/index.html.md) (*Sapindus saponaria var. drummondii*): medium tree, 20 to 50 feet, zones 5 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Winged Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/winged-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus alata*): medium tree, 40 to 60 feet, zones 6 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [American Elm](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/american-elm/index.html.md) (*Ulmus americana*): large tree, 60 to 80 feet, zones 2 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, stream banks, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Black Gum (Tupelo)](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/black-gum/index.html.md) (*Nyssa sylvatica*): large tree, 40 to 70 feet, zones 4 to 9. Shares floodplain forests, dry uplands, old fields and edges in the wild.
- [Every companion of honeylocust in the companion species tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=honeylocust)

## Read from

Its figures come from Silvics of North America, NC State Extension, the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Morton Arboretum, the Wildflower Center, the Forest Service's Fire Effects Information System, the Woody Plant Seed Manual, the USDA PLANTS Database, the US Forest Service and the University of Illinois Extension.