Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Rosids: Fabids: Fabales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Robinia pseudoacacia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
You may also want to check Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines of North Carolina
Learn more about Black Locust from the Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Extrafloral nectaries, nectar-producing glands physically apart from the flower, occur in 2000+ plant species, including Robinia. Read more at UF/IFAS Extension.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Robinia pseudoacacia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Robinia pseudoacacia
SYNONYMOUS WITH Robinia (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) (Isely & Peabody, 1984)
Robinia pseudoacacia
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-32-001:
Robinia pseudo-acacia FAMILY Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT) Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Robinia pseudo-acacia
COMMON NAME:
Black Locust
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
Trees You Want to Know (Peattie, 1934); illustration by F.A. Michaux dcp34_p40a
)
Manual of the Trees of North America (Exclusive of Mexico) (Sargent, 1905) mtna_i_655
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_rops_001_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_rops_004_lvd
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / US Forest Service pnd_rops_005_lhd
)
JK Marlow jkm0402c_13
February Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Bark gray to light brown and deeply furrowed, per Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004).
)
JK Marlow jkm0304v_08
April Rutherford County NC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0404zc_21
April Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
Roxanna Martin rlm41711_38
April Spartanburg County SC
Petals white except for the yellow patch on standard, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm42110_024
April Spartanburg County SC
Fragrant white flowers appear after leaves & dangle in racemes 4-6" long, per Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007).
)
JK Marlow s040429_c
April Greenville County SC
Roadside
Leaflets 7-19, elliptic to oblong-ovate or ovate, 2-5cm long, 1-2cm wide, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
COMPARE
leaves of Locust species
)
JK Marlow jkm0305n_28
May Jackson County NC
Roadside
Black Locust is the most likely tree-sized Robinia to be encountered, per Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988).
)
JK Marlow jkm0305n_31
May Jackson County NC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0405p_20
May Polk County NC
Roadside
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_r_pseudoacacia_c
May
)
JK Marlow jkm0407g_21
July Transylvania County NC
Blue Ridge Parkway
Spines often present, per Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance).
)
JK Marlow jkm0507e_21
July Fayette County WV
Hawks Nest State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm060712_024
July Raleigh County WV
Grandview State Park
)
JK Marlow jkm070715_007
July Greenville County SC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm140704_679
July Jackson County NC
)
JK Marlow jkm140816_635
August Jackson County NC
High Hampton Inn
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_r_pseudoacacia_2
August
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Robinia pseudoacacia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Robinia pseudoacacia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2015)
Robinia pseudoacacia
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Robinia (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) (Isely & Peabody, 1984)
Robinia pseudoacacia
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 098-32-001:
Robinia pseudo-acacia
FAMILY
Fabaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH (ORTHOGRAPHIC VARIANT)
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Robinia pseudo-acacia
1252
Tree
Perennial
Habitat: forests, woodlands, disturbed areas, roadcuts, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Mountains of the Carolinas & Georgia, and to the GA Piedmont
Common
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
IS THE PLANT "ARMED"?
Stems of juvenile plants usually armed with paired stipular or nodal spines
LEAVES:
Deciduous
Odd-pinnately compound: 7-19 leaflets
Mostly alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
White
(with a yellow spot on the standard)
Bilaterally symmetrical
2-lipped campanulate calyx
5-parted papilionaceous corolla
Superior ovary
FRUIT:
Summer/Fall
Legume
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p315
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p040
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC, 2nd ed. (McMillan, Porcher, Rayner, & White; 2022) p087
- Invasive Plants, Guide to Identification, Impacts and Control (Kaufman & Kaufman, 2007) p110
- Identifying Trees: An All-Season Guide to Eastern North America (Williams, 2007) p240
- Landscaping with Native Trees (Sternberg & Wilson, 1995) p225
- Native Trees of the Southeast, An Identification Guide (Kirkman, Brown, & Leopold, 2007) p148
- The Sibley Guide to Trees (Sibley, 2009) p127
- Trees of the Southeastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1988) p075
- Wildflowers of the Carolina Lowcountry (Porcher, 1995) p199
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p129
- Woody Plants of the Blue Ridge (Lance) p08
- Wildflowers & Plant Communities of the Southern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont (Spira, 2011) p260
- Woody Plants of the Southeastern US: A Winter Guide (Lance, 2004) p298
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