Gleditsia aquatica Marshall

  • Authority

    Isley, Duane. 1975. Leguminosae of the United States: II. Subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 25 (2): 1-228.

  • Family

    Caesalpiniaceae

  • Scientific Name

    Gleditsia aquatica Marshall

  • Description

    Species Description - Glabrate, unarmed or armed tree to ca 50 ft. Leaves 1-pinnate and 2-pinnate; leafstalk 1-2 dm, glabrate or obscurely puberulent; 2-pinnate leaves with 4-5 pairs pinnae each with 7-9 pairs elliptic-oblong, 1-2.5 cm, 1.5-2 r leaflets; 1-pinnate leaves with 7-12 pairs briefly petioluled, elliptic to broadly oblong or lanceolate, (1.5-)2.5-4 cm, 1.5-3.5 r leaflets; blades often crenulate, shiny above, weakly pinnate-nerved; petiolules glabrous. Thorns as G. triacanthos but less strongly developed, simple or but slightly branched, and more often lacking. Inflorescences to 15 cm, simple; staminate flowers clustered, fertile spaced, developing 3-12 fruits. Pedicels 0-3 mm, sometimes with caducous bracts; perianth-hypanthium 2.5-3 mm; ovary glabrous. Legume indehiscent, slenderly stipitate (to 2 cm) asymmetric-ovate, tapering both directions, flat, 3-5(-8) cm long, .5-2 cm wide, apically apiculate; valves dry, thickly chartaceous, transverse-striate. Seed usually one, circular, ca 1-1.2 cm diam.

  • Discussion

    CN 2n = 28 (Atchison, 1949); n = 14 (Gordon, 1970), and others. Gleditsia aquatica is frequent within its preferred habitat in the southern states. Northward, it is local in the immediate Mississippi valley. The leaves, especially individual leaflets of 1-pinnate leaves of cultivated water locusts are frequently considerably smaller than those of plants in native habitats. The same is also true of introduced novelties like G. sinensis and G. japónica.

  • Distribution

    S coastal plain and n in Mississippi Valley: South Carolina, Florida, to e Texas, n to Illinois, Indiana. Swamps, often with Taxodium and sometimes codominant, sloughs, along rivers or floodplains, tolerant of extended periods of flooding; locally cult, within and beyond above range. May-June; pods maturing in fall. Water locust.

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