I have a couple of thorn trees growing on my property, I would like to identify them. How do I go about this? carver carver@eastex.net
Looks like a pear (Pyrus sp.). Don't know about your area, but elsewhere Callery pears have gone wild.
Looks like a pear (Pyrus sp.). Don't know about your area, but elsewhere Callery pears have gone wild. Will have to do some research. This tree is dangerous! It has thorns on the end of each leafy branch! Do Callery pears have thorns?
"Some callery pear cultivars are very thorny", This was taken from http://www.floridata.com/ref/P/pyru_cal.cfm . You just might be right! Thanks!
Hi, My name is Charlie, I live in the Molalla, Oregon area, And I as well have a VERY LARGE thorn tree. It has leaves that resemble a type of Ivy. It does not bare anything except THORNS! My horse has eaten the leaves off this tree and has not acted ill from it. But I too wish I knew what it is? It does try and make starts in other places around my yard but I pull them out! I have no idea what this tree is? But it it as big as a fir tree and way over 14feet high. Thanks, CharlieGirl charlie_a@peoplepc.com
I can't say how they effect horses, but if your horses love to eat them then they are probably OK. Animals seen to have a better sence then we do when it comes to poisionous plants. Also what is poisionous to us may not be for them and vice. However, these are not particularly good trees to have. The Ornimental pear does has nice flowers in spring, which is why it is sold, but suffers from storm damage -- big limbs will fall where you don't want them to. Most of the downed limbs I see around here are Bradbury Pears! Not sure what good the locus tree has going for it, but it leaks sap like mist (disease.insect prone?) that can be nasty to clean off your automobile.
One of the big problems with the black locust here in Spokane is the Locust Borer. See http://www.na.fs.fed.us/spfo/pubs/fidls/locust/locust.htm for US Forestry paper on the insect. Although that page suggest using pesticides, that would be up to the homeowner. Because of its other habits, reseeding at the drop of hat (or seed :) in this case), as well as usually containing dead wood from the borer, it really isn't a desirable tree in my estimation. It leafs out late, well into May here and the tree without any leaves is not very esthetically pleasing, to my notion. When they are in flower they are a beautiful tree, but that is only 3 weeks or less out of 52. Also, it is not a small tree, as there are some just down the block that are well over 60 feet. And of course the larger it is the more seeds it produces. So if it is small now, now might be the time to think about removing it from your property. You can find a webpage of people who like Black Locust at http://www.blacklocust.org/whylocust.html, so I guess the choice is up to the homeowner. :) As always, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Harry
********* I know horses are not always that smart when it comes to trees and plants as my girlfriend lost 2 horses to Tanzy weed when we were young. So I know that they will eat things that are not always good for them. I'm going to try and post a picture here of the entire tree but it may be to large of a file to upload. But as I said in another quote, That this tree does not bare anything except thorns. And I keep finding starts of this tree in other places on the property and I pull them right away.
Charliegirl, Talking two different trees in this thread. Yours is the the black locust or Robinia pseudoacacia as stated above. And although you might not see your tree in flower, (it also reproduces vegetatively or from root suckers without flowering) this tree in general actually has a large pea-like blossom late in the spring with a peapod-like seed. I sympathize with your plight as I have had several growing on either end of my block for some time now and controlling their spread is definitely a problem. As far as your concern about your horse foraging on them, I found this link that states that they are poisonous. http://www.noble.org/Ag/Forage/HorseForage/page16.html also http://www.ovma.org/food/food_moaafood.html But the best source of information would probably be your vet. Harry
CharlieGirl, Too, if you are concerned with the identification of the tree on this forum or any other, the best thing you could do would be to take a sample of a branch with leaves, to the nearest nursery or county extension agent. The extension agent if you have one, could most likely tell you about its poisonous properties. But I must say, the experts who frequent this forum, not including myself of course, as I'm just an amateur in comparison, are the best you are going to find. They are certainly willing to make corrections if they see a plant misidentified for instance. So since there weren't any differences on the identification of your tree, I for one would think it to be the correct one. Harry
******* Harry, Thanks Much For Your Reply! Now Do You Have Any Idea On How To Kill This Tree? I Am Finding New Starts Of It Just Growing All Over My Yard And I Can't Stand This Tree So It's Not Like I'm Wanting It To Grow Anywhere Else~ But It Thinks It's Ok To Do Such! I Was Told By Someone Else That They Plant Themselves "Everywhere"! And I Am Forever Pulling Up The Starts! Any Ideas On How To ((Murder)) :D This Tree Without Having It Fall On My House ?? But That Will Still Kill The Roots Too?? Thanks, CharlieGirl
Pull some of your "starts" to see whether they are seedlings (typically roots will taper off to nothing) or suckers (often pull with a 'snap' and have a single larger "root" which will be broken off at the bottom). If they are seedlings, then carry on pulling. Suckers can be painted with roundup (at label strength). Do not cut down the tree without spraying or painting it as well. The city (Delta) did this to one of these alongside our property some years ago and our lawn exploded with suckers. This may seem like an overused phrase around here, but you would be well advised to get a professional arborist to look at this situation Ralph
Hi CharlieGirl, I found this page about killing Black Locust root suckers. http://www.hort.uconn.edu/cipwg/art_pubs/GUIDE/x14blacklocust.html If it is root suckers as Ralph described above, then I'm afraid the news is not great. It seems that short of treating the tree or tree stump with an herbicide just killing the tree will not do the trick and may make things much worse as Ralph's post above suggests. Couldn't find any less drastic measures than the one in the above website, but will look a little further this evening. I don't have much hope for an easy answer though. As Ralph suggested, talking to your local arborist is probably the best place to start, if you plan to remove the tree. Harry
