Brush - Range & Pasture - Honeylocust

BES-TEX BRUSH ID GUIDE

Honeylocust

Honey Locust

Gleditsia triacanthos

Perennial Woody Brush

Plant Type

Thorny tree; legume family (Fabaceae)

Life Cycle

Perennial; native

Leaf Habit

Deciduous

Typical Height

Medium to large tree, up to 100 ft (Texas A&M)

Photo Gallery

Honeylocust tree with a broad, open crown in yellow fall color — **Whole Tree** Photo: Kevmin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Honeylocust compound leaves with many small leaflets — **Leaves** Photo: Ayotte, Gilles, 1948-, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Honeylocust clusters of small greenish flowers among leaves — **Flowers** Photo: Hannes wilms, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

How to Identify It

Quick ID

Thorns

Clumps of glossy, reddish-brown, three-pronged thorns on trunk and lower branches
Thorns can reach 12 inches (Texas A&M)

Leaves

Once or twice compound, alternate
15 to 30 finely toothed leaflets (Texas A&M)

Flowers

Small, greenish or whitish, May and June (Texas A&M)

Pods

Twisted pods up to 18 inches, dark reddish brown
Ripen September and October (Texas A&M)

Look-Alikes

Mesquite

How to tell it apart from honeylocust: [PLACEHOLDER]

Counter script: "If it is a tree with big branched thorns on the trunk and long twisted dark pods, it is most likely honeylocust."

Where It Grows

Texas

Eastern and central parts of Texas (Texas A&M)

Oklahoma

[PLACEHOLDER]

New Mexico

[PLACEHOLDER]

Sites and soils: Moist, fertile alluvial soils; needs full sun (Texas A&M).

Best Time to Control

Brush Busters leaf spray: late spring through summer. The Surmount label lists spring with mature leaves.

Honeylocust is a woody perennial. No pre-emergent herbicide controls honeylocust.

Treatment Methods

Foliar (Leaf) Spray

Best for plants under 6 ft (Brush Busters)
Example product: Sendero (Corteva)
Mix (Brush Busters): Sendero 1% + surfactant 1/4%
Also labeled: Surmount 0.5 to 1% (Surmount label); PastureGard HL, follow the label

Basal Bark and Cut Stump

Remedy Ultra lists locust and PastureGard HL lists honeylocust; follow the label

Individual Plant vs. Broadcast

Sendero broadcast for honeylocust: 1.75 pt per acre (Sendero label)
Density guidance: [PLACEHOLDER]

Product names are examples only. Always read and follow the product label. For product selection and help, contact BES-TEX at 325.653.1300.

Sources: Brush Busters: How to Control Honey Locust (Texas A&M AgriLife) for the Sendero mix; Sendero label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-645; Surmount label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-480; PastureGard HL label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-637; Remedy Ultra label, EPA Reg. No. 62719-552; Texas A&M Plants of Texas Rangelands.