Today it can be found throughout the United States. Black locust wood is very strong, hard, and heavy. It is used for fence posts, poles, railroad ties, paper pulp, and mine timbers. Technically, black locust belongs to the pea or legume family. That s right.
Black locust possesses virtually all of the characteristics that define a typical weed.
However, the black locust has nodules or knoblike growths on its roots that enable it to add nitrogen to the soil in the same way such other common legume crops as clover and soybeans do. Black locust reproduces prolifically from root sprouts and dominates early forest regeneration in native forest stands and areas disturbed by man. Two biologists from West Virginia University have examined the interactions between mycorrhizal colonization and elevated CO2 in black locust. Olesniewicz and Thomas grew black locust seedlings in controlled-environment chambers with atmospheric CO2 levels set at 350 ppm and 710 ppm. Half of the seedlings grew in sterilized soil with no mycorrhizal fungi while the other half had the benefit of the fungi.