Leaves are alternate and compound, or twice compound. Leaflets are small. Unisexual and bisexual flowers are found on the same plant. The fruit is a large, compressed pod. Gleditsia Species Buds are very minute and hidden.
Thorns are long, stout, and clustered on the trunk and branches.
Leaves are normally pinnately compound, but may be bipinnately compound on vigorous shoots. Flowers are greenish-white and bloom in June. Fruit follows in October and persists into December. It grows under a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions. It sometimes occurs in the forest, but more commonly in corners and waste places beside roads and fields.