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Gleditsia aquatica

Common name:	Water Locust	Family:	Leguminosae
Author:	Marshall.	Botanical references:	11, 82, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-eastern N. America - N. Carolina to Florida, west to Texas, Indiana and Arkansas.
Habitat:	Rich lands of river valleys that are subject to inundation, often for a considerable part of the year[82, 229].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	G. monosperma[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Water Locust [P], Water-locust [B], Waterlocust [DEN1],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	aquatica = in water;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Fabales. Renamed to Fabaceae -- Pea family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 12m at a slow rate. It is hardy to zone 6. It is in leaf from June to October, in flower from July to August, and the seeds ripen from October to December. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. It can fix Nitrogen. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist or wet soil. It can tolerate atmospheric pollution.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Bog Garden, Woodland, Secondary, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Soil stabilization; Wood.

Having an extensive root system, it is planted for stabilizing wet banks and marshes[200].
Wood - heavy, very hard, strong, durable in contact with the soil, coarse-grained[82, 229]. It weighs 46lb per cubic foot[235]. The wood is extremely durable and is used primarily for making fence posts[229].

Cultivation details

Easily grown in a loamy soil, requiring a sunny position[11]. Succeeds in most soils[200]. Tolerates atmospheric pollution[200].
Rather tender when young, it grows best in S. Britain[11]. A slow-growing tree[11], it is growing well at the Hillier Arboretum in Hampshire where a tree was 7 metres tall and 8 metres wide in 1993[K].
Trees have a light canopy, they come into leaf late in the spring and drop their leaves in early autumn[200] making them an excellent top storey tree in a woodland garden.
Plants in this genus are notably resistant to honey fungus[200].
This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[200].

Propagation

Seed - pre-soak for 24 hours in warm water and then sow in spring in a greenhouse[78]. The seed should have swollen up, in which case it can be sown, if it has not swollen then soak it for another 24 hours in warm water. If this does not work then file away some of the seed coat but be careful not to damage the embryo[78]. Further soaking should then cause the seed to swell. One it has swollen, the seed should germinate within 2 - 4 weeks at 20°c. As soon as they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual deep pots and plant them out into their permanent positions in the summer. Give the plants some protection from the cold for their first few winters outdoors.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[DEN] Data _ Photos (Good Identification info) from the Virginia Tech's Dendrology Deptarments' Tree Fact Sheets.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[78] Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948
A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.