A Forgotten Tree - Black Locust Overview
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- Опубликовано: 2 сен 2021
- A quick overview on some of the uses of black locust. There is more than I mention here and feel free to add info to the comments. The quickness that black locust grows and it's rot resistant features I feel makes it a much better choice and more environmentally friendly than pressure treated wood on the homestead. Species you might confuse with black locust include honey locust and bristly locust, I've found both in North Ga.
It's a life rule of mine: any time a come across a man that begins his videos with a banjo music cover and then goes on to speak about Black Locuts, I subscribe. Every time. ;)
Our property is over run with black locust trees.
One fun thing I discovered is that the wood, even sawdust particles too small to really see, are reactive to a "black light". You could make a invisible trail that comes alive at night.
How interesting!
Wow that's cool.
If you coppice black locust you can get a continual fence post sized trunk or trunks every 5 to 7 years. Incredible firewood tree!
Actually had a sucker run 50 feet under my garage and sprouted up in an expansion joint inside next to the water heater. Locust is a crazy survivor.
The locust tree post, lasts twice as long as a rock and half as long as forever.
My parents had a house on a 3 acre lot on the edge of the St. Louis suburbs. 2.5 acres grass to mow, and 0.5 acres full of black locust trees. They lived there for 15 years, and I was in charge of filling up the firewood rack every year. They grew fast, but the bigger ones frequently broke up in thunderstorms. For that 15 years I was able to fill the firewood rack every year just with the wind damaged black locust branches and full trees. And, by the time they moved away I think there may have been more growing tree mass than when they moved in. I will say though, it was often exceptionally tough to split (old school splitting with an axe). A couple of times I let the sprouts grow up in the lawn in a few places. And, within just a few years I had 20-foot tall trees.
What's a couple years? 20 foot? Just researching.
When using Black Locust as a fence post, they are usually set with the bottom end up. If they are set with the big end down, they will sprout and grow.
I have millions on my farm… they have such beautiful sweet smelling flowers and fall purple seed pods. I get tractor tire flats running over them mowing pastures.
The flowers are seriously one of the best spring wild edibles you can forage, but you have to get them around the same day they open, a couple days too late they begin losing their flavor and vanilla like fragrance, and the bloom time is only around 7-10 days.
Hello, this tree is extremely toxic and can cause death! its poisonous to humans and animals, do not eat, call poison control! Do not tell people you can eat this tree! Look it up, thanks!
Black locust really is an amazing type of tree. It takes a very few years to become a source of great timber. I built lots of fences using young trees and burned split locust wood in my iron stove. It burns slow, with little smoke and a lot of heat. Its growth spread does have to be controlled. It can take over a pasture.
I can promise you, beekeepers have not forgot about the black locust. Amazing pale honey
If you run across old cribbing that's unusually heavy, it's usually black locust. Though a very hard wood, it's easy to plane and sand to a velvety finish with crisp corners. I once drilled a 4x4 with a 1" Forstner bit, and the shaving came out in 1 very long accordioned piece, like nothing I had ever seen. I wish it grew taller with a bigger girth, it's my favorite wood to work with.
Our cabin in Norther California has all b.l. floors, ceilings. Gorgeous.
The house I grew up in here in Idaho, had lots of them when we moved in. When my father took them out with a chain saw, they gave off lots of sparks because the wood was so hard! It is beautiful wood when made into something!
I never went barefoot (nor wore flip flops) in our yard because of the thorns.
it's very common here in south west OHIO. Used to be widely used by local farmers as fence post. Take forever to rot. Nice dappled shade tree.
I think it is worth pointing this out...
If you coppice or pollard this tree, you can get a lot of firewood really fast because of the slight invasive nature. The wood is "too" good however, at being firewood. Using a bit of it is fine, but if you burn a lot of black locust all at once in an enclosed metal fireplace, you are putting a denser than average wood in, which has more fueling power than regular wood, which means you can get a much hotter charcoaling effect. I have seen wood stoves turn bright red more than once from someone cramming too much black locust in. I have seen wooden handles combust and burn off. I've been in basements that started to get too hot to want to stand in, let alone close the damper to put it out.
I've never had a real fire or an emergency that turned into a dangerous disaster, but I've seen it kind of go in that direction.
ABSOLUTELY CORRECT. We got our lovely woodstove because a man didnt listen to my hubs and filled the stove full of locust. He nearly burned his house down. Turned the stove bright WHITE. We add one large piece or two smaller pieces to our regular wood in the stove. Love this hot burning wood.
I grew up cutting black locust fenceposts, and we burned the offcuts. You have to start them on an existing bed of coals (like burning coal).
You have to cut the oxygen back. A thermometer comes in handy there.
Though rare, I can find them in some yards in my area of northern New Brunswick, Canada. I love this tree.
They're everywhere in western NY. I love them too
It's one of the best woods to warm up a house very very hot
Those flowers smell incredible. It is one of my favorite scents of early Summer. I have heard that the thorns themselves were used as pegs. I have heard the flowers are edible, as mentioned, but that the seed pods can be toxic.
I’m in the neighborhood on the other side of 52 in Ellijay. If you go to Amicalola Falls State Park, there are a lot of huge locust trees in the area around the top of the falls. I’m not sure which species. Black locust was used to reclaim Dust Bowl land in the Midwest during FDR’s administration. Today there are commercial locust lumber producers. I would love to have a deck made from it. They say Carpenter Bees would need carbide teeth to damage it. Black locust is a great sustainable domestic replacement for tropical Ipe.
The Italians dip them in batter and fried them. This wood has a great history. I'd also suggest looking up the history of osage orange also.
Whe have black locusts trees here in washington state, above Oregon. The old-timers grew it her for fence post and mine posts and building.
I love when they are blooming, they are so fragrant! Black locust honey is my favorite. Very light in color, very floral, it zings!
i have many in my little orchard here in n. idaho. wonderful tree. the first one i planted in the 80's is much larger than the one you show. excellent nitrogen fixer. i plant them between my fruit trees but i keep them shorter.
i live in the south of Spain and it`s easy to find some USA trees in urban streets and parks even some scaped to nature, black locust, honey locust, and black walnut are easy to find.
Hi there, greetings from Waikato New Zealand, I guess you already know but BL was a prized bow wood in your country, It does grow here in the Waikato, in fact I've just tracked some down, just a bit of a journey to collect! But, as a bowyer myself I'm keen to give it a go, great video, thanks
A man in n.y. USA makes bows from this wood. He states make the bow when the wood is green.
Up here in the PNW we have honey locust trees, These are often mis identified as black locust. If saplings are posted with the bark on in our clay soil it will create natural creosote. They will some times sprout as well. Enjoyed your channel and info.
It's one of the few allelopathic varieties of trees. They are legumes and soil nitrogen fixers. A great pioneer tree to establish a food forest. Great soil builder for chop and drop amendments.
Hello, this tree is extremely toxic and can cause death! its poisonous to humans and animals, do not eat, call poison control! Do not tell people you can eat this tree! Look it up, thanks!
Grows great in Vermont also, I remember in forestry class at Paul smiths college That it can grow more btu's per acre than any other tree for firewood along with all the uses you mentioned. Good video, thanks.
Really nice video. So many uses for the tree. Peterson's Field Guide to Edible Wild Plants says that black locust flower clusters are edible, but the seeds, roots, bark, and leaves are poisonous.
I planted a Purple Robe Black Locust 18 years ago. It is one of a few things I planted through the years that has survived. I live in a southern part of Colorado where it’s hot dry and clay soil. Cactus and junipers grow naturally here. But between the hot summers, we have had many different species of bugs…3 years of grasshoppers /locusts? It was so bad nobody grew anything. killed many plants. It has gotten many suckers but none of them bloom. I wonder if there’s female/male parts? It bloom beautiful pinkish purple flowers in the Spring looks almost like wisteria. Always makes me so happy each year I go out and it’s bloomed. Don’t know why the suckers aren’t tho. Love ❤️ my tree
'Purple Robe' Black Locust which is a hybrid is grafted onto Black Locust rootstock. 'Purple Robe' Black Locust and Black Locust are hardy to USDA Zone 4. The flowers on locust trees (Robinia pseudoacacia) have both male and female parts.
'Purple Robe' Black Locust blooms and produces seed pods with no seeds. All I can figure is that conditions are so harsh in your area that suckers of Black Locust growing from the rootstock do not have enough reserves to form flowers and pods with seeds in them. The suckers won't have flowers until they are two to three years old under normal conditions.
The purple robe is a cultivar of the black locust. Cultivars might not produce seeds.
@@lovegodfirst654Tanya in the post above explains that it is a grafted cultivar... cultivar just means cultivated variety...all kinds of cultivars produce viable seed.
Grows up into New Hampshire and Vermont for sure.
We’ve got em here in Staten Island, New York city! Thanks for the video!
So I made a big compost pile last year near a stand of black locust. I cut a bunch of em down for firewood and they started suckering like crazy. I thinned them out, pruned them and now I have maybe 20 ish very healthy trees in this spot, the biggest ones being around 20 feet tall.
I had a couple random pumpkin plants grow from this compost pile. I let them be and they've been THRIVING. I knew that the compost was a big factor in them doing so well but now I'm wondering if the locust has something to do with it?
Also, I've seen them almost three feet in diameter over here!
Black locust is second only to hedge (Osage Orange) for durability as a fencepost and for firewood. It does spark some when you open the door and stir it but other than that it is pretty easy to split, burns hot and lasts. It grows all over Illinois, but I have yet to find it here in the Arkansas Ozarks. I have seen a few sweet locust here (The one with the huge thorns all down the trunk) but not black locust.
You haven't had your eyes open. They are here. Your sweet locust are honey locust.
@@duanecoatney6432 Not sweet or honey locust, the ones with the 4 inch thorns, I'm talking about the black locust, the one with shorter thorns and yellow wood that lasts 30 years as a fencepost.
@@springhollerfarm8668 yes both exist here. The black locust has white flowers that can be eaten and make jelly from them these are the yellow wood. The big thorns honey locust with the big seed pods.
For the locust trees that are larger in diameter to be fence post as they are, They can be busted up into smaller rails or posts with a sledgehammer and some metal wedges.
Great video quality, very informative. Enjoyed Subscribing and looking forward to more and watching the channel grow!
Great video and great comments. I’d love to see more great content from this channel.
Wonderful tree. They were brought into my part of Illinois by the settlers from Kentucky, just for posts. Our variety has much stubbier thorns and only on young branches.
Lots of interesting info. Look forward to more. Best wishes.
I’m in Kentucky and love black locust. We have lots of them and have seen old large ones. The branches fall often.
I have black locust next to my urban Saint Louis home and I love it! The spring flowers are magnificent and the bees go crazy for them! They need the food at that time.
Dude I have a bunch thriving wild on my property all the way up in Maine Brother!! Cant wait to start my adventure with these beautiful entities!
There was black locust in Pennsylvania. It is the hardest wood I have ever seen. Once it is cured dry it is impossible to drive a nail or staple in it. The posts do last forever.
It grows flagrantly and exuberantly here NY State's Hudson River Valley. The wood is very certainly hard and durable.
We had two big ones on the street in front of our house in germany they were about 100 years old and more than 3 feet in diameter. Wonderfull trees but you wont park your car under them when blooming. The sap drippled and dried quick and was hard to remove.
We have New Mexican Locust out here in the Southwest. It looks very close to Black Locust.
We don't have these trees in Scotland but we do have Mountain Ash.
Yup I have them on my property and I love them. I've made baskets from the inner bark
We have Honey Locust growing on our property & their thorns compete with or out compete Russian Olive tree thorns in length. They are invasive, their roots are long. Our goat's & cow's love the leaves. Haven't seen any mushrooms on ours, so it might just be something that separates them from the black locust variety.
Very cool and informative.
I want to plant as many as possible on my 10 acre land in South-Western Ontario Canada. This is such an awesome utility tree, so glad I found this tree.
Agreed, I just discovered this tree and am going to start interplanting it in my coppice clearings in Muskoka along with honey locust and Osage orange. No worry of them getting out of control because there is forest everywhere. So useful, I see bee hives in my future.
Black locust trees should be used for all stick built homes and decking. Above average strength and rot resistance is an amazing combination. Unfortunately, they do have challenges to overcome. I hope the universities can selectively breed out the susceptibility to the fungus.
If you char that piece of wood before you stick it in the ground, it will last a lot longer.
Grows in bc interior doesnt notice minus 35 Celsius beatiful trees
We have them here in Michigan, too.
In Northern Iowa I lived in an over 100 year old house that had a Huge Black Locust which was several grown together and the back fence because folks had not been cleaning it was all black locus unfortunately they raised the land when they removed the house .
Very comprehensive discription of the black locust. I live in northern ny and the black has been here for a hundred years at least. I've harvested as far north as Goveneur and seen them farther north.
very good and well thought video- thx :)
I don't have any in my area but we have honey locust which has similar properties
If it is the same locust that I am familiar with.We have tons of it here in Rhode Island..It is indeed very heavy, but breaks easily in good storm.
The very upright branches develop bark inclusions which make the branches weak, even though the wood is incredibly strong.
Since you are near the coast, your storms are strong too.
Love this one, thx. Will you teach us about aerated static composting? How much easier it’s creation is compared to the old manual rotation methods. Please share why this Biodiverse Compost helps create resilient crops, according to Elain Engam Food Soil Web, founder.
They're thick here in Iowa, some of the best firewood there is
The wood from Black Locust is extremely rot resistant. It's the lumber I'd want to build frames and gunwales for small boats out of....
It is the largest of the three super rot resistant trees around here.
The other two are Red Mulberry and Orange Osage, but Black Locust can sometimes get to be 110 feet tall where I live in New York state.
Would anyone be willing to send me a few small black locust trees... I'm talking about really little, to me in Arkansas? I've looked them up and they're too expensive for me. But I've read some really cool things about these trees. Like they react to blue light. I saw a woodworker make an amazing table from the wood. Anyway just wondering.
Thank you for this video. Very informative and well done! 💖
The polypore mushroom sounds interesting in the “Bee Smoker”
🐝🕊
They are in England too.
They are everywhere on the planet. It's an under-rated hidden gem.
As a child I often wondered why would nature evolve such a huge spike in its defense.i had a theory and recently read an article to bolster my theory. Some hypothesize that the tree evolved those massive spikes to protect itself from the megafauna that existed 10,000 plus years ago. The giant sloth being one of them.
wow that’s cool
Nothing has ever macro evolved. Many things have adapted, micro evolved.
It is impossible anything popped itself into existence: gravity, quarks, centrifugal force, light, carbon, water and all.
It is impossible those began their own existence, and close enough in time and space to cooperate in modifying themselves to higher states.
And without consciousness.
Great video. I planted a locust this year and am planning to coppice it in a couple of years. Do you have any experience with that?
I think this is growing next to my porch. If its a tree then its definitely going to have to go. Might be from the tree across the street. I'm in the PNW, I read its invasive. Its about 2 feet tall, but the leaves look like this but the stem is green so I'm confused if its the tree or not.
was that a 🐻or 🐷 in the back ground lol Sorry brother great video well done 🇨🇦
almost every fence in West Virginia 40 years ago had black locust fence posts
Very, very interested in this wood, appreciate the video. Do you know a source where I could purchase a long piece of Black Locust to fashion a stout walking stick from?
If you are in West Central IL, I could give you a trailer load. We have to fight to keep these trees controlled on my parents land.
@@scottfreedoms9584 really, really appreciate the offer, I’d scoop them up quickly but I’m in Southern California. If for some reason I’m ever in your area…….. who knows.
@@scottfreedoms9584 I should have asked back when, would you consider selling a nice straight piece of Black Locust for a hiking staff and shipping to San Diego?
@@leohobayan4973. There has to be someone using it for something. Maybe try asking around, everyone having anything to do with wood.
The Cherokee made their bows mostly from black locust and arrows from sourwood or dogwood shoots
I know where I can access black locust, but how does anyone reach the flower clusters?
despite that they have thick rough bark, I've heard that they are actually not fire resistant
The honey locust has very few if any thorns
I have one, but unfortunately they share very few of the benefits of Black Locust.
They aren't as rot resistant and I don't think they fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, but the leaves of Honey Locust are small and they don't have to be raked as much as Maples.
as anyone eaten out of black or honey locust bowls? Was guessing it would be ok eating salads, cereal, popcorn etc.? no hot foods.
We have them in sw mo.. I’ve had to cut them away from powerlines
I planted 3 here in Oregon. They are doing very well regardless the crazy hot and dry summers here because of climate change. if you want to save America, plant this tree.
Here in Vermont it is everywhere and grows great
Here, in Hungary its a common tree (hungarian name is: akác)
They're all over the place in northeastern Ohio
I had one in Essex Ontario in Canada. What a horrible weed. I burned the tree standing. When I burned it alive I got almost no sprouts happening.
I have locust 3 foot diameter
They have DMT in them, I make Beer with the leaves/fresh green stems, adding honeysuckle, as an MAOI. Cures lots of sicknesses.
Root extracted with A/B method yields purer product
Is this trea not poisonous to humsns and livestock?
🥩our cattle enjoy the leaves
in the “Silvopasture” 🥩
🐝Bees Love the
Blooms 🐝
🕊
The flowers are edible. But the rest of the tree is toxic to humans. Not sure about livestock
No
You’re thinking about black walnut.
Yes it is extremely poisonous! you are right!! eating can cause death to humans and animals, look it up!
acasio negra?
Those trees don't have a tap root.
Ah! A light dawns. Black locust is false acacia. That's how it's known as an introduced species in the UK. Not uncommon as a planted tree, including in some woodlands. Has a reputation for splinters going septic in wounds. Never knew any part of it was edible. Never used it for anything, including firewood. I know different now. Thanks.
??? Didn't hear anything??
🤯🤯...When you said you absolutely love tripping hard off of the mushroom that only grows on black locust 🇺🇸
I'm just kicking an infection in my finger from this sucker , I have 90 acres and they are everywhere
OMG your blowing 😮
Yeah, I was hoping you were going to have the perfect remedy to eradicate it. I made a promise to myself not to have thorny plants (not even roses) on my property.
step on a few thorns and you will know why people hate it..I have a few and they hurt
Sure that wasn’t a “Honey Locust“? It has much longer thorns, the Black locust’s thorns wouldn’t be long enough to penetrate your shoe.
🕊
@@whitefarms3274 Yeah, our thorny honey locusts are gnarly. Keeps people away though.
Not a good choice for neighborhood lawn. Neighbors don't appreciate the suckers coming up in their lawns.
Toxic to horses
All parts highly toxic, except flowers. Irresponsible to ignore this fact in your video.
(1) Robinia pseudoacacia var. rectissima The yellow locust is a tree, called "yellow" because the wood is a lighter. the tall, straight tree pressumed nonexistent in the Appalachian forest had, for generations, been alive and well in Long Island, New York, where it was called the "shipmast" locust, and had been planted, under the encouragement of the Soil Conservation Services, to reduce erosion and enrich the soil. This tree is called as THE TREE THAT LAST LIKE A STONE for it's wood won't rot, immune from insects. The reason why it is called shipmast locust is because it is aa straight as a shipmast used in ships before. The yellow locust is long-lived---borers do not trouble it---and the wood, used by mountain people as structural timber bridges and buildings as well as fenceposts, is virtually indestructible. It can only be reproduced by rooted cuttings and rarely by seeds. You can either go to Long Island, New York to ask for rooted cuttings or ask a forest ranger for information in your area on where you can acquire rooted cuttings of the yellow locust. The yellow locust wood is colored "YELLOW".
(2) The ordinary black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a tree that grows typically to forty or fifty feet in this region (and occasionally to seventy or eighty) - a smallish, gganrly-looking tree with wide, complex branching, beginning low on the trunk. It's forked branches make the tree subject to borers, and therefore the tree has a short life span of fifty to seventy-five years, and rots away rather quickly after being cut. It's wood is not commercially valuable.
This tree is only useful as firewood and to reclaim mined out areas. The color of the ordinary black locust is "BROWN".
The ordinary black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) is a tree that grows typically to forty or fifty feet in this region (and occasionally to seventy or eighty) - a smallish, gganrly-looking tree with wide, complex branching, beginning low on the trunk. It's forked branches make the tree subject to borers, and therefore the tree has a short life span of didty to seventy-five years, and rots away rather quickly after being cut. It's wood is not commercially valuable.
The yellow locust is an another matter entirely. This tree, called "yellow" because the wood is a lighter color than that of the black locust (which is brown), has the same sprays of compound leaves as the black, and the same leguminous seed pods, like the pods of field peas or fava beans.
But there the similarities end. The yellow locust rises as tall and straight as the mast of a saling ship in the forest, it's branches not beginning on the stout trunk until fifty or sixty feet from the ground.
It's crown is narrow, not broad like the black locust's, and at the top of the tree is at or above the canopy ---often at 150 feet ir higher, Also unlike the black locust, the yellow locust is long-lived---borers do not trouble it---and the wood, used by mountain people as structural timber bridges and buildings as well as fenceposts, is virtually indestructible.
The mystery of the yellow locust as a tree distinct from the black aises not because the mountain people are confused, but because the yellow was more or less "lost" n the literature of academic botany for over forty years.
It is perhaps no wonder that young botanists and foresters deny it's exstence. Recently, a smapling of this lost literature was collected by John Flynn, who, following up a vaque reference in Donald Culross Peattie's 1950 book A natural History of Treets, scoured the U.S. Department of Agriculture Library at Beltsville, Mryland (with the enthuasistic help of te librarian on duty), for early articles on the yellow locust.
Reading through a packet of a half a dozen papers from the 1930s and 1940s, he found that the tall, straight tree pressumed nonexistent in the Appalachian forest had, for generations, been alive and well in Long Island, New York, where it was called the "shipmast" locust, and had been planted, under the encouragement of the Soil Conservation Services, to reduce erosion and enrich the soil.
The tree was identified in 1936 as a separate botanical variety by Oran Raber (Robinia pseudoacacia var. rectissima).
I think there's some confusion in all the information I've read, and I believe it's simply a strain of Black Locust.
Some literature says that shipmast Locust is non flowering, tall and straight, and you mentioned the wood was Yellow.
All Black Locust around here in the middle of New York state, are capable of growing very tall, with white flowers, and the heartwood is yellow.
They are susceptible to insects but are at the top of the list for rot resistance.
I've never seen brown heartwood in fresh cut Black Locust.
I believe the old books I've read about shipmast Locust were really just evidence that we've lived through an age of Wood, when people were highly motivated to find specific uses for each species, and someone wanted to exploit this resource of very straight growing Black Locust for use in the smaller boats.
My good friends growing up down the street came from Long Island and they had the same tall trees as we did in the Capital region of Albany, Schenectady and Troy.
Many tall evergreens were exploited for large masts for the King around our area, and the shipmast Locust would excel in the smaller boats, but they wouldn't be as desirable for the big ships.
Our White pines could reach 180 feet tall and very straight and clear.
We had Black Locust trees that were in a ravine and they were all around 100 feet tall and not done growing, with some that were 110 feet, but the upper region wasn't very straight.
I'm trying to get some growing on another property now, because they are so awesome.