Tuesday, May 28, 2019

Poison, Poison, Tasty Flowers!

We have quite a few black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees at our various sites. While the wood is brittle, it is rot resistant, so it is often used for fence posts and pier pilings. The locust tree's foliage, wood, and bark are toxic, to the extent that it's not recommended to eat even prized mushrooms growing on locust trees. The flowers of the locust tree, however, are edible and as delicious as they are showy:




Locust honey is, by all accounts, prized, but I am not a beekeeper, so I stick to the flowers themselves, which appear after redbud and wisteria bloom. The post title is taken from a classic 'Simpsons' scene.

2 comments:

StringOnAStick said...

I've seen a black locusts variety recently that has deep rise flowers; gorgeous!

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

That must have been a gorgeous sight.