Common Honeylocust

Gleditsia triacanthos

L. Species

Gleditsia triacanthos
Giorgio Zavattoni via iNaturalist — CC0 1.0
Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 1 Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 2 Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 3 Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 4 Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 5 Gleditsia triacanthos photograph 6
Botanical name
Gleditsia triacanthos
Also known as
Common Honey-Locust, Common Honeylocust, Honey Locust, Honey-Chuck, Honey-Locust, Honeylocust, Sweet Locust, Sweet-Bean, Sweet-Locust, Thorny Common Honeylocust, Thorny Locust, Three-Thorn-Acacia, Three-Thorned Acacia
Family
Fabaceae
Genus
Gleditsia
Flowering period
May
Height
12–20 m
Spread
8–15 m
Hardiness
Fully hardy (RHS H6)
Reference
World Flora Online

How to grow Common Honeylocust

Written by the GardenDecoded editorial team Last reviewed 21 July 2026 Written for UK gardens How we research our guidance

Sunlight
Full sun
Watering
Low; drought tolerant once established
Soil
Well-drained; tolerates poor, dry and compacted soils
Soil pH
Acid, neutral or alkaline

Planting

Plant in spring in a sunny, sheltered spot. It is tolerant of urban pollution, drought and poor soil, and its light ferny canopy casts only dappled shade, so planting can continue underneath it.

Pruning

Prune in late summer or autumn to remove crossing or damaged branches. The wild species is armed with substantial branched spines on the trunk and limbs; thornless garden forms are the ones normally sold.

Propagation

Seed germinates after scarification and soaking, though named cultivars are grafted.

Pests and diseases

Generally healthy in the UK. Late frosts can damage the young growth on trees coming into leaf.

Value to wildlife

Little value to UK wildlife, being a North American species with no native associates here.

Notes

Leafs out late and drops early, and the small leaflets are fine enough that they largely disappear into a lawn rather than needing raking. The golden-leaved forms are the most commonly planted in gardens and hold their colour best in full sun.

Some structured details on this page (such as tolerances, pH and hardiness) come from USDA PLANTS Database (public domain). The written guidance is GardenDecoded's own, researched as described in our editorial policy.

Other names for this plant

These names have all been used for Gleditsia triacanthos but are no longer the accepted name. You may still meet them on old labels, in books, or in nursery catalogues.

Acacia americana Acacia inermis Acacia laevis Acacia triacanthos Acacia villaregalis Caesalpiniodes heterophylla Caesalpiniodes triacanthum Gleditschia triacanthos Gleditsia brachycarpa Gleditsia brachycarpos Gleditsia bujotii Gleditsia bujotii unranked pendula Gleditsia bujotii var. pendula Gleditsia elegans Gleditsia excelsa-pendula Gleditsia ferox Gleditsia ferox var. nana Gleditsia flava Gleditsia heterophylla Gleditsia horrida Gleditsia inermis var. elegantissima Gleditsia inermis var. elegantissima Gleditsia laevis Gleditsia latifolia Gleditsia latisiliqua Gleditsia latisilique Gleditsia meliloba Gleditsia micracantha Gleditsia micracantha Gleditsia micracantha Gleditsia mimosifolia Gleditsia mimosifolia var. pendula Gleditsia pendula Gleditsia polysperma Gleditsia sinensis var. nana Gleditsia sinensis var. nana Gleditsia spinosa Gleditsia triacanthos f. brachycarpos Gleditsia triacanthos f. elegantissima Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis Gleditsia triacanthos f. nana Gleditsia triacanthos f. pendula Gleditsia triacanthos var. brachycarpos Gleditsia triacanthos var. bujotii Gleditsia triacanthos var. ferox Gleditsia triacanthos var. horrida Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis Gleditsia triacanthos var. laevis Gleditsia triacanthos var. macrocarpos Gleditsia triacanthos var. nana Gleditsia triacanthos var. pendula Gleditsia triacanthos var. polysperma Gleditsia triacanthus Melilobus heterophyla Vachellia villaregalis

Others in Gleditsia

Gleditsia × texana
Gleditsia amorphoides
Gleditsia aquatica
Swamp-Locust
Gleditsia assamica
Gleditsia australis
Gleditsia caspia
Gleditsia caspica
Gleditsia fera

GardenDecoded is an educational gardening reference. Botanical data comes from World Flora Online and GBIF; growing guidance is our own. Always check a plant's toxicity and local invasiveness status before planting, and never eat or apply a plant based on this site alone.