The WOOD is heavy, hard, not strong, rich dark brown in color, and of little commercial importance. The redbud is cultivated as an ornamental tree and for that purpose might be more generally planted in this state. Several varieties of Cercis canadensis have been described in Texas. HONEYLOCUST Gleditsia triacanthos L. Honeylocust occurs naturally in the eastern part of the state to the Brazos River. It grows under a wide variety of soil and moisture conditions and is a popular tree for planting in the drier portions of Texas. It reaches a diameter of 30 inches and a height of 75 feet. The BARK on old trees is dark gray and is divided into thin, tight scales. The strong, straight or branched, brown, sharp and shiny thorns, which grow on the 1-year-old wood and remain for many years, are sufficient to identify the honeylocust. The LEAF is pinnate or feather-like, with 18 to 28 leaflets; or it is bi-pinnate, consisting of 4 to 7 pairs of pinnae, each 6 to 8 inches long. [Illustration: HONEYLOCUST (Twig, three-quarters natural size; leaves and fruit, one-quarter natural size)] The FRUIT, a 10 to 18 inch pod, is often twisted, 1 to 1½ inches wide, flat, dark brown or black when ripe, and contains a yellow sweetish pulp and dark brown seeds. The seeds are hard and separated by pulp. The pods are eaten by many animals, and as the seeds are hard to digest, many are widely scattered from the parent tree. The WOOD is coarse-grained, hard, strong, and moderately durable in contact with the ground. Honeylocust is a good tree to substitute for the black locust which has been almost exterminated in West Texas by the locust borer. TEXAS HONEYLOCUST (G. texana Sarg.), found in the Brazos River bottomlands, is reported to be a hybrid between G. triacanthos and G. aquatica. WATERLOCUST Gleditsia aquatica Marsh. In river bottoms and swamps along the Gulf Coast to the Brazos River and north to Arkansas is found the waterlocust, a close relative of the well-known black locust. It can be distinguished by the small pod having one seed, rarely two or three. [Illustration: WATERLOCUST (One-half natural size)] The waterlocust reaches a height of 60 feet and diameter up to 3 feet. The trunk is usually short, dividing into several spreading, and often distorted, branches. The branchlets have sharp spines from 3 to 5 inches in length, dark red and shiny. The pinnately compound LEAVES are 5 to 8 inches long with 12 to 20 leaflets arranged on opposite sides of the leaf rachis. Each leaflet is an inch or so in length, oblong, sometimes slightly toothed on the edge, dull green or yellow-green above and dark green on the lower surface.