Locust Tree
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a name given in different parts of the world to different trees of the natural order Leguminosæ. The Carob tree is often so called in the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, and its pods are the locust beans of the stores. The locust tree of the also called the false acacia, or thorn a United States (Robinia pseud-acacia), acacia, and on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain very generally the valuable and extremely acacia, is beautiful tree. The wood, known as locust wood, is useful for all purposes in which great strength , and especially toughness, is required; "locust," indeed, is the slang term in the United States for a policeman's baton. The honey locust tree of the United States is a gleditschia. The locust tree of the West Indies is Hymenæa courbaril , a gigantic tree whose pods also supply a nutritious matter, a mealy substance in which the 1 additio pself in philosophic hrough b rame inter Ind gradua mmunicat From 1 of the Soci The dent le war was bok called to be an from his ok discussion lecture to discussin His po Views rs of S of Faith Soul" ); "Con iter London, ying Entered led a -1591 h The chie Long Wound Cooking 169 Robe pods are embedded. The bark of the tree is anthelmintic ; it yields a kind of resin called anime , and it is valuable as a timber tree, the timber (also known as locust wood) being close-grained and tough.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The botany in Collier's 1921 note still holds: carob (Ceratonia siliqua), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), honey locust (Gleditsia) and the West Indian Hymenaea courbaril are all still called locust trees, and locust wood is still valued for exactly the toughness described — it remains a standard choice for fence posts and outdoor decking. What has changed is reputation and use. Black locust, praised in 1921 as "valuable and extremely beautiful" and widely planted across Europe, is now listed as an invasive species in much of Europe, Asia and Australia, while thornless cultivars of honey locust became one of the commonest street trees in North America after Dutch elm disease cleared the avenues. The slang the entry records — "locust" for a policeman's baton, from the wood it was turned from — has quietly died out.
Written for this edition, 2026.