Robinia pseudoacacia (Black Locust, Yellow Locust, False Acacia)

The Black Locust, or Robinia pseudoacacia, is a deciduous, flowering tree with a trunk diameter of 3 to 4 feet and a height of 50 to 70 feet. It's a woodland tree endemic to North Carolina's mountains. Black locust grows in thickets on clay banks and waste areas, as well as along fence lines. The leaves are pinnately compound and alternating, with 7 to 21 leaflets. Gray to light brown in colour, the bark is thick, fibrous, highly ridged, and furrowed. The fragrant, pea-like white blooms develop in long (5 inch) hanging clusters in the spring and early summer. The tree produces a flattened legume with 4 to 8 red-brown seeds that is 2 to 4 inches long.