The sweet scent of blooming Black Locust is wafting through Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge right now. Heads-up, their wonderful fragrance won’t last long.
The Black Locust blooms only last 7 to 10 days, and once they wilt, the scent disappears!
Black Locust in bloom – Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1/640, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light
Black Locust blooms look a lot like sweet pea blossoms, and they should, since both belong to the Fabaceae (pea) family.
Most of the time, the flowers are a creamy white, but they can rarely be pink or purple.
In this image, thorns are visible on the branch to the right of the blooms. I sure don’t want to get too close to a Black Locust tree!
Blooming Black Locust tree – Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1/1000, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light
Yesterday, after photographing the blooming locust trees at the refuge, I found out that this native species can host at least 67 species of butterflies and moths. That’s a lot!
The seeds are eaten by some birds and squirrels, and woodpeckers may nest in the trunks of older trees.
Black Locust blossoms – Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1/1000, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light
Please note that the bark, leaves, and wood of this locust tree are toxic to both humans and livestock. If you have pets, this isn’t a tree I’d recommend planting in your yard or garden.
Flowering Black Locust tree – Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1/1000, ISO 800, -0.7 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light
I think the flowers of Black Locust are beautiful, the scent is lovely, and those creamy-white blooms make great photography subjects. I’m really glad I took the time to enjoy and photograph them yesterday at the refuge!
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my flower, shrub, and tree photos.
What lovely photos, Mia. When we lived in Utah we planted Purple-robed locusts trees in our parking strip. They had wonder cascading purple blooms. But sadly, as another person already mentioned, they were very brittle and top heavy, and they blew down or broke within the first year or 2. When we moved away, the new owner tried to save them with cables and wires. I don’t think it worked. When we returned years later, I think they were all gone.
These lovely shots are proof positive – that beauty is only skin deep. At first glance, I thought the name Black Locust was inappropriate for such beautiful blossoms but after reading your narrative…I understand. Great pics. Thanks Mia.
I don’t think we have them. How I love the emphemeral beauty of spring scents.
Beautiful! I love the scent of the flowers but the trees no so much. The early Mormon pioneers brought them to Utah. My parents rock pioneer house, 1868-1872, used to have them all over the property. There are still a few big old trees making them around 150 years old! I think the pioneers liked the flowers, there isn’t much use for them other than they grow fast providing shade. A problem with them is they are a brittle tree and in Centerville we get strong east winds which brings down large branches and sometime an entire tree. We have an old photo of the original owners, and builders of the house, where a huge black locus blown down by east winds crushed what was the front porch at the time. Another photo of several locust trees blown over damaging the stables and carriages inside. My parents have lived in the home since 1960 and my father has taken most of the trees out, many to the east of the home and granary where they would do damage when falling. As a kid the huge thorns were the bane of my barefoot life! Winds would knock small branches into the grass and fields where I often ran barefoot. Those long thorns when stepped on would break off deep in your foot taking time to work out. Also they have a toxin on the thorns that make even a poke painful for a long time. I still love the flowers and have some black locust behind my current home in the gully, not as old, but most likely decedents from early pioneer trees.