Second, the wood is not easily damaged by extreme foraging for two reasons, the short thorns on many trees discourage some foraging, but you also have a wonderful hidden asset, even if the tree is completely stripped of bark by winter foraging deer, the runners and underground storage of food insures it will grow back even stronger the following season, not just stronger but often taller and with friends. Other important attributes of black locust are its extremely rapid early growth rate, very high density wood, high resistance to wood decay fungi, tolerance to low fertility sites, drought resistance, abundance of natural product chemicals in its wood, bark and leaves, and large amount of genetic variation in most attributes (Barrett et al. Locust wood is as hard as any I've ever worked with, and it is of the highest quality!I was fascinated by your blog on this tree, which I’m in love with. That was 15 years ago. The wood is tougher than hickory, which is tougher than hard maple, which is tougher than oak. It still works today, although the fire has been replaced with a blowtorch. Each leaflet has a tiny point at the end. A large, old growth tree could be worth a million dollars, but the last of these was probably cut down more than 50 years ago. Posts made of this wood are good for grapevine supports in vineyards.
In Illinois, native only to the far southern edge of the state.Dark gray bark is deeply ridged and furrowed; rough, with a scaly or ropy texture.Leaves are alternate and pinnately compound, the entire leaf up to a foot long.
It doesn’t last near as long as Black Locust wood in the ground but it is environmentally safe.
The Morton Arboretum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on the generosity of members and donors. A few months ago I nabbed a few boards and made a picture frame with an 8x10 photo of his mill inside. I got most of the trunk and had it milled. Wet sites should be avoided.Black locust is resistant to black walnut toxicity.Native to eastern and southern parts of the United States. Ample sunshine is essential to maximize growth and yield. He dragged it to his sawmill across the road in the spring and sawed some dimensional lumber from it and placed the lumber in his basement. The green and yellow hues were beautiful. This Crop Circle shaped plantation has several advantages over row-to-row plantations. If anyone has any of these trees, keep them standing; take deadwood or storm knockdowns. It's a wonderful species for firewood – it burns hot and long if properly seasoned. Fourth, the root provides a degree of allelopathy, thereby suppressing other competing weed trees like Eleagnus and red cedar. Black Locust can be a really fast growing tree. Our communities. Over time, the chemicals have a tendency to leach into their surrounding environment including ground water, which has been shown to cause cancer.
The wood is weak and brittle, subject to storm damage. The colors that came out in that wood after a semi-gloss varathane was applied were amazing.
I gather it is also called false acacia. This is a huge opportunity for tree farmers living in temperate climatic zones.The following comments where collected from a national wood products discussion forum.I am a wood-flooring contractor and have installed a couple Black Locust floors.
I'd make everything out of it. The tree will seed itself in these old pastures and grow in fairly dense stands that are very straight and tall (sometimes over 100 feet). Some of the older ones were cut down by N.Y. State in its infinite wisdom, and I was able to take out about a cord and a half as firewood. I only wish there was a supply of this lumber in my area.
As a child I marveled at the coarse bark and the tall, lanky stature of these wonderful trees. I agree with others that Black Locust should really be promoted for all its potential uses.We have found at least 5 advantages for the lazy grower like myself. In year 10, every second tree is sold or converted into high BTU wood pellets. At least it used to before the beetle borers showed up. Whaddaya expect when it's practically the most durable and stable wood available? Even young trees flower. Very little color change in fall.Fragrant, creamy white flowers in hanging clusters. Depending on market conditions, Black Locust tree plantations gross between $30,000 and $50,000 per acre in year 30 and double that in year 50. As a bandmill sawyer, last year I started sawing the wood, and what a surprise, it saws just as easy as cherry, and the grain and color is out of this world. Some of these poles are still in use today; as sound as the day they were driven into the ground. Black Locust tree seedlings grow rapidly, are highly resilient in a variety of soils, and grow back even faster from its stump after harvest. And so far, we have had less attack by insects and fungus compared to oak, walnut, persimmon, and pine.
Black locust is resistant to black walnut toxicity. The hospital itself was established pre-1890, and the grounds (400+ acres) were apparently planted with many of these trees, many of them now over 75-80 feet in height.