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Article: The star-crossed honeylocust. (In Profile).
- Article from:
- American Forests
- Article date:
- March 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 American Forests. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The story of the native honeylocust's (Gleditsia spp.) rise in America has more twists than a John Grisham novel. Also called the sweet locust, thorn tree, three-thorned acacia, and honey shucks, the tree seemed destined to be an agricultural star in the 1920s when USDA researchers determined that its seed pods offered a valuable option for cattle and pig fodder.
At that time, one acre of honeylocust trees could produce almost twice the volume in fodder of one acre of corn or oats. It also contained two to three times the sugar content of sugar cane or sugar beets--think sugared cereal for cows.
Honeylocust seemed to offer an opportunity for a ...