Water Locust

Gleditsia aquatica, also known as water locust or swamp locust, is a tree native to the wetter parts of the southeastern United States. It’s a member of the legume family; in other words, it’s a bean plant. The tree produces a fruit in the form of a seed-pod—a long, flat, papery and shiny dark brown seed-pod—with one flat round brown bean inside. The tree is notable for the five-inch-long thorns it sometimes produces, as well as the gorgeous color transformation its leaflets undergo in autumn. The water locust’s sprawling root system and its love of water make it a great choice for erosion control, and growing as high as it does, often growing up to ninety feet tall, it’s the closest thing to a magical beanstalk in the Atchafalaya Basin.