Locust tree explained

Locust tree can mean:

• Any of a number of tree species in the genera Gleditsia or Robinia, including:
  • Honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos), a leguminous tree with pods having a sweet, edible pulp
  • Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), a leguminous tree with toxic pods
  • Water locust (Gleditsia aquatica), a leguminous tree with one seed per pod
• Less commonly, "African locust bean tree" (Parkia biglobosa), which is also known as néré
• Also not commonly, the carob tree, Ceratonia siliqua, whose pods are called locust beans

Etymology

"Locust" comes from the Latin locusta, meaning both "locust" (the insect) and "lobster". By analogy with a Levantine use of the Greek word for the insect, akris, for the pods of the carob tree, which supposedly resembled it, the pod-bearing North American tree started to be called "locust" in the 1630s.^[1]

Notes and References

1. Encyclopedia: Harper . Douglas . locust (n.2) . . 24 March 2021.