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Black Locust
It’s May and a beautiful cool day in GreensboroNC. As you drive around Greensboro right now in early May the blooms that seem most evident are those of the Black Locust, whose drooping clusters of fragrant white flowers cover the trees from top to bottom. In droop and general shape the flower reminds one of that of wisteria, another legume. There are a still a few wisterias blooming now but they have mostly petered out. The Black Locust has easily identifiable compound leaves whose leaflets are round to slightly oval in shape with smooth edges. Since many animals eat the mature beans once the legumes have matured, and scatter the seeds abroad, the Black Locust invades disturbed areas quickly, and thus is often seen in clumps of immature stands on roadsides – right now they are all over Greensboro. Be careful around the Black Locust! They have quite strong and long thorns straddling leaf scars on the zig-zaggy twigs, and they can easily penetrate human skin. The bark of the Black Locust is dark brown and deeply fissured as it gets older. There is a very large in LathanPark near Cridmore and Wendover that I see going to and from my office each day. |
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