Re: [nafex] honeylocust pods

[hector black <hblack@TWLakes.Net>]

Hi Lucky - Feels kind of weird to disagree with Arnoldia, but I planted
seeds of thornless honeylocust which we think was the thornless Schofer
variety from a guy in Michigan.  They came up about 75% thornless (out of
maybe 25 trees).  Notice the same thing with seedlings of Milwood and
Calhoun.  Thorny honeylocust are probably 500 ft. from the orchard of
honeylocusts so we are presuming that most of these are pollinating one
another.   Hector Black  zone 6
-----Original Message-----
From: Ginda Fisher <ginda@concentric.net>
To: nafex@egroups.com <nafex@egroups.com>
Date: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 5:11 PM
Subject: Re: [nafex] honeylocust pods


>
>
>Lucky Pittman wrote:
>>
>> At 11:14 AM 01/06/2001 -0600, Keith wrote:
>>
>> > Does anyone on this list have any experiance regarding the
>> > utilization of whole honeylocust pods by goats?
>>
>>. . .the seeds generally pass through the
>> ruminant digestive tract unharmed, germinating wherever they are
>> deposited, leading, eventually, to numerous punctured truck, tractor,
>> and ATV tires.
>> Even with the 'thornless' honeylocust selections, a certain percentage
>> of the seedlings will revert to the 'thorny' phenotype, and cattle
>> usually are reluctant to browse the thorny little buggers - goats
>> probably will relish them,  though.
>
>According to an article in Arnoldia recently (quarterly publication or
>the Arnold Arboretum) there is no such thing as a thornless
>honeylocust.  Growing thorns is juvenile behavior - at a certain age,
>they quit.  If you graft part of a mature honeylocust, it will not
>usually revert to juvenile behavior - voila, a thornless yard tree.
>This is the same mechanism that leads to earlier fruiting of grafted
>apples than of seedlings, even onto ordinary rootstock.  I suppose
>"thornless" varieties have less tendency to revert than some others, but
>all honeylocusts can be expected to bear "thorny" seedlings.
>
>
>> They're not for everyone, and they're certainly not for me.
>> Honeylocust is a member of my unholy trinity of most hated trees.
>> Lucky Pittman
>> USDA Zone 6
>> Hopkinsville, KY
>
>Lucky, what are the other two?
>
>Ginda Fisher
>
>
>