''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

s in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

, subfamily

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name '' Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae a ...

native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

to the Americas and Asia. The Latin name commemorates

Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch (5 February 1714, in Leipzig – 5 October 1786, in Berlin) was a German physician and botanist known for pioneer investigations of plant sexuality and plant reproduction, reproduction. Biography He studied medicine an ...

, director of the

Berlin Botanical Garden The Berlin Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum () is a botanical garden in the locality of the borough of , Berlin, Germany. Constructed between 1897 and 1910 under the guidance of architect Adolf Engler, it has an area of and over 20,000 di ...

, who died in 1786.

Species

There are 12 species: *''

Gleditsia amorphoides ''Gleditsia amorphoides'' common name Espina de Corona Cristi, is a tree in the subfamily Caesalpinoidae family Fabaceae. It is native to South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the So ...

'' (Griseb.) Taubert *''

Gleditsia aquatica ''Gleditsia aquatica'', commonly called water locust or swamp locust after its habitat of river swamps and slough margins, is a tree native to the Southeastern United States and adjacent regions. Description ''Gleditsia aquatica'' often grows ...

'' Marshall – water locust or swamp locust *'' Gleditsia assamica'' Bor *''

Gleditsia australis ''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to the Americas and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died i ...

'' F. B. Forbes & Hemsley *''

Gleditsia caspica ''Gleditsia caspica'', the Caspian locust or Persian honeylocust, is a species of ''Gleditsia'' native to western Asia, in the Caucasus region of Azerbaijan and northern Iran, close to the Caspian Sea.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary ...

'' Desf. – Caspian locust or Persian honeylocust *''

Gleditsia fera ''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to the Americas and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died i ...

'' (Lour.) Merr. *''

Gleditsia japonica ''Gleditsia japonica'', the Japanese locust, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,Gleditsia medogensis ''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to the Americas and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died i ...

'' Z.C.Ni *''

Gleditsia microphylla ''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to the Americas and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died i ...

'' D.Gordon ex Y.T.Lee *'' Gleditsia rolfei'' S.Vidal *''

Gleditsia sinensis ''Gleditsia sinensis'', known as zào jiá (皂荚) or Chinese honey locust and black locust in English, is a species of flowering plant native to Asia. Description Zao jia grows as a tree up to 30 m tall. Spines are often branching and are robu ...

'' Lam. – Chinese honey locust *''

Gleditsia triacanthos The honey locust (''Gleditsia triacanthos''), also known as the thorny locust or thorny honeylocust, is a deciduous tree in the family Fabaceae, native to central North America where it is mostly found in the moist soil of river valleys. Honey ...

'' L. – thorny honey locust Hybrids * ''Gleditsia'' × ''texana'' Sarg. – Texas honey locust (=''G. aquatica'' × ''triacanthos)'' All the species are woody except for ''G. microphylla''. Their ability to fix nitrogen is debated; see .

Range and taxonomy

''Gleditsia'' is found in East Asia, on the East Coast of the Americas, and in South America; small populations of certain species also exist around the Caspian Sea (''G. caspica'') and India (''G. assamica''). There are native species to all these regions. The theory is that ''Gleditsia'' originated in East Asia in the Eocene, crossed the land bridge across the North Pacific Ocean into North America, and then spread down to South America millions of years later. ''Gymnocladus'' is a sister genus of ''Gleditsia,'' and it too mimicked this dispersion pattern, except it came to the Americas much earlier. Though there are no extant European ''Gleditsia'' species, there are fossils found in Europe which could mean that the genus also crossed the North Atlantic land bridge. Certain ''Gleditsia'' species are in clades with species from other continents; an example is ''G. caspica'' (from the Caucusus), ''G. delavayi,'' and ''G. japonica'' (both from Asia), who are in a clade together. ''Gleditsia amorphoides'' is the most basal of the genus, most closely related to ''G. sinensis'' but not the North American species (''G. aquatica'' and ''G. triacanthos'').

Medicinal use

''Gleditsia sinensis'' is one of the 50 fundamental herbs used in

Chinese herbology Chinese herbology () is the theory of traditional Chinese herbal therapy, which accounts for the majority of treatments in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). A ''Nature'' editorial described TCM as "fraught with pseudoscience", and said that t ...

, where it is called ''zào jiá'' ( 皂荚).

References

Bibliography

*Philips, Roger. (1979). ''Trees of North America and Europe'', Random House, Inc., New York . * Fabaceae genera Caesalpinioideae {{Caesalpinioideae-stub