FAMILY: FABACEAE
ALTERNATE COMMON NAME:
LEAVES: alternate, deciduous, pinnately
compound;
7-21 leaflets, each 1/2-2” long; bases of petioles and
leaflets swollen; stipular spines
FLOWER: white, 6-8” long raceme of
paplionate (pea-like) flowers; 5 petals: 1 is enlarged (standard),
2 wings, 2 fused to form the “keel"; flowers in
spring after leafing-out: easiest time of the year to identify
this species
FRUIT: legume, 2-4” long, flat; hard,
kidney-shaped seeds
TWIGS: stout, zigzag; stipular spines;
submerged lateral buds (remember: thorns
are modified branches, spines are modified leaves or stipules)
BARK: furrowed and fibrous on older trees
FORM: medium-sized tree, 40-60 feet tall
x 1-2 feet diameter; often poor form (especially on poor sites),
and short-lived
HABITAT: moist, rich, well-drained sites
WETLAND DESIGNATION: Obligate Upland (UPL): Almost never occurs in wetlands of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast Plain Region
RANGE: Ozarks and Appalachians; naturalized
throughout much of the eastern US; one of the most widely-planted
trees worldwide; now common in Europe
USES: very durable wood; accumulates silicon
which is hard on saw blades; used for fence posts, erosion
control; nitrogen fixer; good honey tree; minor use of seed
by squirrels and quail; browse by deer
Best Recognition Features:
- pinnately compound leaf; never bipinnately compound
- stipular spines
- 2 to 4 inch-long flat legume
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