Michigan Wild Honeylocust Seeds

currently unavailable Wild Michigan Seed Strain-Thorny-Tough-Nitrogen Fixing-Ecological Integrator

Large thorned North American selection. Produces major 6" branched thorns on the central trunk and smaller thorns on the lateral branches. Seeds are collected from wild stands along a river system in southwestern Michigan. Most of the areas are flooded part of the year. Here the tree spreads by seeds and is part of a river plains vegetation. Despite being considered a weed tree by many, only the inermis subspecies is used for the landscape industry. This is not that and for that reason this seed selection is rarely grown.

After the pods drop, the turkeys pluck the seeds from the pods very quickly making it one of timing to collect a portion of the crop. Sometimes I get lucky, sometimes not. If a snow comes, the turkey seem to use supernatural powers and still find the pods and seeds. (Almost if their brain is a metal detector for seeds.) All trees are polygamous meaning perfect flowers will occur in the tree and pods will be produced. If you want to increase the pod production plant more than one tree. There are all male trees, but it not common.  Very hard and heavy wood which can be used for a variety of uses. Some turners like this wood due to its grain patterns which are very distinct. 

Further grow outs could lead to much faster growing trees from this selection. Cultural intervention could make the tree thornless but few have tried this. I have started a test in this direction. Somehow I think this tree could be used for its wood, honey production, nitrogen fixing as well as its use in agriculture as wind breaks as it integrates with other trees so well casting little shade. If I had to guess, the thorny version may prove superior to this goal. The thorns are more than protection from an ancient dinosaur. 

The seed source for this tree is wild collected near the Kalamazoo River. Seed collection can vary from year to year depending on yield, turkey activity and snow cover.