Seattle Tours

Black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) trees grow out of the crack in the ground next to the Garfield Street (aka Magnolia) bridge. This is a very weedy tree, and, like Gorse and Broom, a woody member of the pea family (see entry of May 4). We don't have any woody pea natives, which has been very apparent to me since my recent trip to central america, where big-seeded fabaceous trees are ubiquitous.

The thorny black locust is native to the southeast US. Trees forming groves are often all connected by runners sent out by a central mother-tree (at Golden Gardens is a great example). The specimens shown here likely won't last long: recently crews have been drilling soil cores nearby to prepare for a rehabilitation of the Depression-era bridge.