A pair of Honey Locust trees (Gleditsia triacanthos), at the Executive Park entrance at Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, NY.
The Honey Locust tree has an airy, feathery appearance due to its compound and twice compound (bipinnate) leaves. Leaves are alternately attached, leaflets are elliptical and short, typically an inch or less.
In the summer, the tree is notable for it’s long leguminous fruits, which start out soft and green, and turn dry and purplish-brown before falling off. I remember one particular playground I used to visit as a child and the feel of the dried pods crunching under foot.
Wild Honey Locust originally had large sharp thorns, but in this are we normally find introduced cultivars that are thornless, and often fruitless as well.