The Honey Locust (Gleditsia triacanthos) is a native tree known for its formidable thorns and its long, twisting pods. The pods contain seeds that are surrounded by a sweet, honey-colored pulp. The thorns and pods are shown below.
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Thorns
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Pods
The Honey Locust is definitely not known for its spring flowers, which are somewhat obscure and can be lost in the tangle of thorns and emerging leaves. Male and female flowers appear on separate trees, but all trees (that are flowering) also have some flowers that contain both male and female parts. The botanical term for this is polygamo-dioecious. The flowers appear as catkins, and in the photos below, started emerging the first week of April. They arise from the tissue surrounding branch scars and from the tissue at the base of thorns, which are simply modified branches.
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Early Catkins
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Thorn and Catkins
The catkins did not open until warmer weather the first week of May. This tree turned out to be a male, and the stamens, with the large anthers at the tip, can be seen in the photos below protruding from the flowers.
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Male Catkins
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Male Catkins
Honey Locusts are very tough trees, and survive environmental extremes and poor soils. What they do not tolerate is shade or fire. North Carolina is not part of their natural range, which is the central U.S., but they are found in most areas of the state as a minor part of forest ecosystems. Thornless trees do occur naturally, and have been adapted to cultivation to produce city plantings that tolerate pollution and meager soils without the inherent hazards that the thorns present.
Herb Amyx
Gleditsia triacanthos
Honey Locust
Colorful Bark Patterns
News from Rockcliff Farm 
Herb, I knew nothing about this tree but it’s name. Thank you. Not I am intrigued and will watch for an example when I’m out. I think there may be some at Clemmon State Forest.
Thanks Adair. Another surprising aspect of the Honey Locust is the bark, which can have beautiful patterns with softly accented colors. I added another photo at the end to illustrate this.
I just moved to a retirement cottage with a honey locust in my yard. How long will the blossoms drop from the honey locust in the spring. I have been sweeping my patio for weeks.
That is very interesting; in central North Carolina, most Honey Locust trees have sparse blooms, where flowers are patchy and sometimes missing altogether. I would expect your tree is most likely ending its bloom now.
June 2021 and my porch has enough of these to sweep or blow up every hour – it has been goind on for at least 2 weeks and there are more in the tree to fall-it sounds like it will be another mess in the fall – big mistake, right?