Common honey locust, or three-spined (Gleditsia triacanthos) belongs to the legume family.
The ecological form of the plant is tree. The maximum height can be up to forty meters, but most often 15-20 meters. The crown is broadly cylindrical, openwork, the bark is dark brown.
The trunk and branches of the tree are covered with thorns, which are divided into three parts.
The leaves are pair-pinnately compound, from fourteen to twenty centimeters long, petiolate.
The flowers are most often unisexual, yellowish. They gather in a raceme inflorescence, which is located in the leaf axils.
The fruits are multifruited beans up to forty centimeters long. The seeds are quite large, up to one and a half centimeters long.
Habitat
Common honey locust grows in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. The plant's homeland is North America, but it began to be grown in cultivation.
Chemical composition
The chemical composition of the plant includes substances that have physiological activity. These are alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, vitamins K and C. The alkaloid triacanthin is present in young leaves and flowers. In addition, the leaves and fruits contain vitamin C.
Various flavonoids were found in the beans; tannins and anthraglycosides were present in the fruit flaps.
The fruit pulp contains sugar, and the seeds contain the carbohydrate mannogalactin.
The chemical composition determines medicinal properties honey locust So triacanthin, which belongs to the alkaloids, has antispasmodic properties. It dilates blood vessels, which reduces blood pressure and relaxes other smooth muscles. This alkaloid has a stimulating effect on the respiratory center.
Other active ingredients are atraglycosides. They are contained in the pericarp of the plant and have a laxative effect.
Application and medicinal properties
Medicines from honey locust are used in most cases for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Triacanthin is more active than the common papaverine, but at the same time it is more toxic.
Decoctions of honey locust fruits and leaves are used in cases of spastic colitis, peptic ulcer and with chronic inflammation of the gallbladder. In all of the above cases, preparations from the leaves of the plant are often used. They help relieve pain during exacerbations of cholecystitis. A decoction of the fruits is more effective. It helps especially well in cases of chronic constipation.
Contraindications to the use of preparations from honey locust are also associated with the characteristics of physiologically active substances. These medicinal formulations should be taken with caution by people suffering from low blood pressure. A large amount of saponins in the broth can cause poisoning.
Blank
The leaves and fruits of the plant are harvested as medicinal raw materials. The leaves are collected in the first half of summer. For collection, choose sunny, dry weather. Dry in shaded but well-ventilated areas. The leaves are laid out in a thin layer and mixed regularly. When their petioles begin to break when pressed, the leaves have dried out. The fruits are harvested when they darken and begin to break easily.
- Fruit decoction: One tablespoon of crushed raw materials is poured with a glass of boiling water. Insist for half an hour in a water bath, then cool for ten minutes and filter. Take half an hour before meals, three to four times a day, one tablespoon.
- Decoction of leaves: one tablespoon of crushed leaves is poured with a glass of boiling water and boiled in a sealed container for half an hour (preferably in a water bath). The broth is cooled, filtered and the volume is brought to the original volume. Take one tablespoon of the decoction half an hour before meals, four to five times a day.
is one of the plants of the family called legumes, in Latin the name of this plant will be as follows: Gleditsia triacanthos L. As for the name of the honey locust family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Fabaceae Lindl.
Description of honey locust
The common honey locust is a tree whose height can reach approximately forty meters. Root system This plant is located superficially, and such a system is covered with finely cracked grass, colored in gray-brown tones. The branches of this plant are covered with erased dark brown shiny spines, the length of which is about ten centimeters. The leaves are either simply or doubly pinnate and will also have elongated lanceolate and incomparate leaflets. The flowers will be yellow-green in color, they are dioecious and polysymmetrical. Such flowers are collected in relatively few clusters at the very base of the leaves. The calyx of the common honey locust consists of five sepals, which grow together to half; the corolla is unfused and five-petalled. There are only ten stamens of this plant, and the pistil is made up of one carpel. The fruit of the common honey locust will be flat, multiple-fruited, and also curved and wavy and dehiscent at two seams. This fruit is dark brown in color.Flowering of honey locust occurs during the period from May to June. In this case, the ripening of the fruit occurs approximately in September-October. This plant is native to North America. Moreover, the plant can often be found in southern regions both Ukraine and Russia. It is noteworthy that the common honey locust is also a honey plant.
Description of the medicinal properties of honey locust
The common honey locust is endowed with quite valuable healing properties, while for medicinal purposes it is recommended to use ripe fruits and leaves, as well as pods of ripe fruits. Fruits should begin to be harvested when the pod turns dark and bursts easily. Such fruits should be dried at a temperature of approximately fifty to sixty degrees or simply in the open air. The leaves of this plant should be collected in the first half of the summer season in dry sunny weather, and dried in the shade, while laying them out in a fairly thin layer and stirring from time to time. The raw materials of this plant will be ready when the petioles, when bent, break and not bend.The fruits of this plant contain triterpene saponins, flavonoids, vitamin C, as well as tannins and mucous substances and the alkaloid triankatine. The pods of honey locust will contain tannins, anthraglycosides and vitamin K. The alkaloid triacanthin will have an antispasmodic effect on smooth muscles, and will also dilate blood vessels and stimulate the respiratory center, and in addition also lower blood pressure. The same anthraglycosides that are found in the fruit pods will have a laxative effect for chronic constipation.
As for traditional medicine, decoctions of fruits, leaves, and pods are quite widespread here. Such remedies are recommended for use in chronic gastritis, gastric ulcers and duodenum, as well as for colitis, constipation and chronic inflammation of the gallbladder. Most often it is recommended to use a decoction of the fruits of honey locust, however, it should be remembered that large doses of saponins can cause poisoning. A decoction of fruits and fruit pods is effective for chronic constipation.
Instructions for use:
Gleditsia (synonym: three-spined honey locust) is a large tree growing up to 45 meters in height, belonging to the genus Gleditsia of the Caesalpiniaceae family.
The most common species is the common honey locust. It has a wide openwork crown and dark brown bark. The trunk and branches are completely covered with reddish-brown branching or simple spines 20–30 cm long. The leaves are alternate, pair-pinnate or double-pinnate. Small greenish flowers are located in dense axillary racemes. The plant is native to the eastern part of North America, but is cultivated in all countries with temperate climates. Currently, it is actively grown in the southern regions of the European part of Russia, in particular in the Rostov region, in the south of the Volga region, in the Krasnodar Territory and in the North Caucasus.
Honey locust is a poisonous plant. Has decorative and medicinal properties, is a good honey plant.
Chemical composition
Young leaves and flowers of honey locust contain the alkaloid triacanthin.
Leaves and fruits contain ascorbic acid (from 100 to 400 mg).
The beans contain sugars, 3-glucoside-1-epicatechin, saponins and flavone compounds (including fustin, olmelin, acrammerin and fisetin).
The bean leaves contain tannins, anthraglycosides, and traces of vitamin K.
Beneficial features
Basics active substance, contained mainly in young leaves of the tree, is the alkaloid triacanthin:
- has a pronounced antispasmodic effect on organs with smooth muscles;
- stimulates the respiratory center;
- stimulates breathing;
- dilates blood vessels;
- enhances coronary blood circulation;
- lowers blood pressure.
Anthraglycosides contained in fruit valves have a laxative effect.
Indications for use
Gledicia is not included in the State Pharmacopoeia Russian Federation and is not used in official medicine. However, young leaves of the plant are used as raw material for the production of triacanthin alkaloid (Triacanthinum), and hydrochloric acid The alkaloid triacanthin hydrochloride is widely used in medicine as an antispasmodic for spasms of the smooth muscles of the intestines, stomach and bronchi.
IN folk medicine A decoction of fruits and leaves is used to treat chronic constipation, spastic colitis, chronic gastritis, chronic inflammation of the gallbladder, gastric and duodenal ulcers.
The bean leaves are used as a laxative.
Contraindications
- age up to 15 years;
- pregnancy;
- breastfeeding period;
- increased individual sensitivity to the plant.
Medicines based on honey locust should be used with caution in people with low blood pressure.
Honey locust is a poisonous plant! It is strictly forbidden to exceed recommended doses, since toxic glycosides in overdose can cause drooling, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pale skin, hypotension, drowsiness, and fainting. In severe cases, the following are possible: degenerative changes in the liver, pneumonia, hemolysis of red blood cells, congestion in the brain, etc.
Home remedies from honey locust
- decoction for the treatment of gastritis and peptic ulcers: chop 10 g of bean leaves and pour 500 ml hot water, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes, leave for 3 hours. Take 1 tbsp. l. 5 times a day for a course of 2 weeks;
- remedy for inflammation of the gallbladder: 1 tbsp. l. Grind the dried leaves, pour into an enamel container, pour a glass (250 ml) of hot water, boil for 30 minutes in a water bath, cool and strain, bring the volume to the original volume using boiled water. Take 1 tbsp. l. half an hour before meals;
- infusion for constipation: pour 10 g of bean leaves with 1 glass of boiling water, leave for 15 minutes, strain, squeeze out the raw materials. Take 1 tbsp. l. up to 4 times a day.
Information about the drug is generalized, is provided for informational purposes and does not replace official instructions. Self-medication is dangerous to health!
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The genus includes 15 deciduous plants that inhabit the territory of both Americas, central and eastern Asia, as well as the African tropics. The height of trees often exceeds the 40-meter mark. The color of the bark varies from light gray to almost black. In adult plants it becomes covered with cracks.
Branches and foliage form a wide openwork crown. The pinnate leaves sit on petioles and are arranged alternately. The leaf blades are lanceolate in shape. The edges, in most cases, are entire, much less often they are slightly crenate. Before the leaves fall, the color changes from soft green to bright yellow.
A distinctive feature of the Gleditsia genus is its modified shoots, which are long spines. They are found on the trunk and branches, and can be simple or branched.
Plants cannot boast of beautiful flowering. Miniature greenish, whitish, yellowish flowers appear in the axils of the leaves. They are collected in inflorescences-brushes or panicles. They smell nice. The aroma attracts bees, which allows the trees to be classified as honey plants.
After pollination, fruits are set - intricately curved beans, up to half a meter long. Oval, hard, dark brown seeds are in no hurry to leave the nests. Often unopened beans hang on the branches all winter.
Gledicia is suitable for growing in culture. Decorative foliage plants decorate parks and garden plots. It is also an excellent choice for creating a hedge.
Growing
Gleditsia prefers mild climatic conditions. However, cultivation in regions with cold winters is also acceptable. You just need to take care of the shelter before the frost arrives. By the way, as plants grow older, the winter hardiness of plants constantly increases.
Gledichia is usually formed as a standard tree. The plant tolerates a “haircut” easily and quickly recovers after pruning onto a stump. Young trees also respond painlessly to transplantation.
Reproduction by root suckers and shoots from the stump is acceptable. But plants grown from seeds are considered the most resistant. Planting material remains viable for up to 5 years. It is recommended to collect fruits in the fall; seeds from beans that have “overwintered” on the branches germinate in isolated cases. Before spring sowing, you can soak the seeds in warm water, a solution of Zircon or Epin-extra. Grown seedlings are regularly watered and ventilated. Transplantation to a permanent place of residence is carried out after 1–2 years.
Diseases and pests
Horsefly bug, leaf beetles.
Reproduction
Seeds.
First steps after purchase
To grow honey locust, as a rule, seedlings with a closed root system are purchased. Delivery of a new copy involves some difficulties. The fact is that the seedlings are quite tall.
IN open ground Plants can be replanted from spring to autumn. The main thing is to give the seedling the opportunity to take root before the onset of frost. When planting, it is permissible to add complex mineral fertilizers to the soil.
At first, watering and loosening the soil are required. It is difficult for a young tree to resist weeds, so the gardener’s responsibilities include removing unfriendly neighbors.
Secrets of success
Honey locust loves sunlight, but at the same time can tolerate light shading without harm to health.
The plant makes no special demands on either fertility or soil composition. Any garden soil is suitable for trees, including heavy and saline soil. The only thing Gledichia doesn't like is marshy soil.
These representatives of the flora are distinguished by rare drought resistance. Only young plants are watered regularly. The need for watering for mature trees appears only if there is no rain at all in the summer.
Gleditsia does not need frequent feeding. When growing in depleted soil, it is enough to apply complex mineral fertilizer in the spring.
Possible difficulties
When growing honey locust, you should not expect rapid flowering and fruit appearance. A perennial plant that can live more than 100 years takes time. It begins to bloom and bear fruit at 8–10 years of age.
You should not worry about the fact that young honey locusts do not grow new shoots in the spring. At a young age, the plant can only form a rosette of leaves.
Honey locust is not prone to disease. But it is subject to attacks by horsefly bugs and leaf beetles. Methods of struggle and most effective drugs presented in the relevant sections of the site.
It is one of the rarest types of wood that is not afraid of drought. It takes root well in desert, saline soils, in places where other plant species usually die. Despite the fact that honey locust belongs to the category poisonous plants, its young leaves and fruits are considered an indispensable source of valuable substances used for the treatment and prevention of various ailments.
Description
Honey locust is a large, drought-tolerant plant. legume family, Having decorative and medicinal properties, it is considered a good honey plant. The homeland of wood is North America, but today it can be found in all regions where a temperate climate prevails.
Honey locust - tall plant, the length of which can reach up to 40-45 meters. Externally, it is similar to white acacia, has similar feathery leaves about 30 cm long, small flowers of a greenish-yellow hue with a pleasant, bright aroma. 8-10 years after planting, the first fruits begin to ripen - pod beans, 18-23 cm. The ripe fruits can remain on the tree the whole winter. The branches and stems along the entire length are covered with brown thorns, because of this, looking at the tree, you get the impression that it is surrounded by barbed wire.
Did you know? Honey locust due to large quantity thorns are specially planted to protect forest belts. It is also used to create a hedge through which no living creature can pass.
The chemical composition of the culture is represented by alkaloids, glucosides, epicatechins, flavonoids, including acrammerin, olmelin, fustin, fisetin. The beans of the plant are rich in saponins, sugars, and the leaves are rich in anthraglycosides, tannins and vitamin K. Ascorbic acid is found in large volumes in the leaves and fruits.
Habitats
Honey locust - drought-resistant plant, which gets along well in arid regions, desert areas, and saline soils. It grows in the southern regions of Russia, Ukraine, the North Caucasus, eastern half U.S.A, Central Asia. The tree is not afraid of various pests and is resistant to diseases. It germinates quickly, has a strong, durable root system, the peculiarity of which is the ability to accumulate nitrogen through special bubbles located on the roots and enrich the soil with it.
This type of wood does not like poor soils with no nutrients. Can live in almost all regions with temperate climatic conditions.
Collection and preparation
Gledicia is successfully used in alternative medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The leaves and fruits of the plant are used as medicinal components. Fruit harvesting begins the moment they become dark color and they break well. After collection, they are dried at a temperature of about +50-55 degrees or placed outside in the shade. 
Important! An injection from plant needles can lead to prolonged and painful inflammation of the skin. Therefore, when assembling raw materials, it is recommended to use personal protective equipment.
In June, when it becomes hot and dry, the leaves are collected. Dry them in the shade, spread them out in a thin layer, and mix systematically. Store dried fruits and leaves in linen bags or wooden containers. The shelf life of raw materials is 24 months.
Medical Applications
The rich mineral and vitamin composition of the leaves and fruits of the plant made it possible to use them as a therapeutic and prophylactic agent. Honey locust contains vitamins C and K, flavonoids, alkaloids, mucous components, tritepene saponins, which have an antiseptic, astringent, anti-inflammatory, and analgesic effect.
Decoctions of fruits and leaves are used for disorders in the gastrointestinal tract, intestines, chronic gastritis, colitis, and inflammation of the gallbladder. The plant helps cope with constipation.
For chronic constipation, prepare decoction of dried fruit leaves: 10 g of raw material is poured with 1 glass of boiling water, left for 2 hours, filtered. Take the medicine 1 tbsp. l. three times a day.- cholecystitis;
- hypertension;
- muscle spasms.
For the treatment of gastritis, inflammation of the gallbladder and stomach ulcers take this decoction: 10 g of crushed fruit shells are poured into 250 ml of hot water and simmered in a water bath for about 10-15 minutes. Leave for 30 minutes, strain. Use 1 tbsp. l. up to four times a day. The course of treatment is 2 weeks.
For thrombophlebitis and vein blockage The following recipe is shown: 4 pods are crushed, pour in 500 ml of water, boil over low heat for about 10 minutes, leave for 2-3 hours. The strained infusion is taken 1 tbsp. l. five times a day. 
Important! The tree is poisonous, therefore, if its fruits and leaves are consumed medicinal purposes the dosage must be strictly observed. If you observe excessive salivation, pale skin, nausea and vomiting, you must perform gastric lavage procedures and go to the hospital.
The fruits of the tree are used as food for domestic animals, and its seeds often serve as a substitute for coffee.
Practical use
In addition to its medicinal properties, honey locust has a decorative function. It is a real decoration of parks, gardens, squares; it is planted on city streets, alleys, along roads, to protect forest plantations. 
Cultural plantings
Honey locust - unique, original and very unusual tree with a beautiful crown and fragrant flowering. Because of the original appearance caused by numerous hanging legume fruits, it is used in landscape design for creating exclusive hedges, decorating parks and squares. The plant tolerates pruning well and does not require special care. Cultivated in gardens and parks in the south of the Russian Federation, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
Did you know? Honey locust first appeared in 1637 in the parks of D. Tradescant near London. It came to European territory at the beginning of the 17th century.
The tree is excellent summer honey plant, who is capable of giving productive bribes. A special feature of this variety is that it can produce sweet, aromatic nectar even during dry periods. Bees, in any weather conditions, flock to flowers and stock up on big amount nectar.