Inermis inquiry

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Maackia Eau Claire, WI Nov 03, 2006

I was out looking at my Robinia 'Frisia' and got to thinking why there aren't any thornless selections of this species, at least not that I'm aware of. This is in contrast to Gleditsia triacanthos, which seems to have an abundance of thornless cultivars. Does Honeylocust naturally produce more thornless seedlings as compared to the Black Locust from which these cultivars originated, or is there some other explanation for this? Crataegus is another genus noted for producing trees armed with thorns that mean business. The only one I'm aware of that has produced a thornless selection is C. crus-galli, which is a common landscape tree. Any ideas on why there aren't more thornless selections from this genus? I love the picturesque form of these trees as they spread and flatten out with age, and my guess is they'd be much more popular with the gardening public if there were a few more thornless selections. The thorns haven't stopped me from planting a few of them, but you do have to be careful where siting them.

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PrairieGirlZ5 Thornton, IL Nov 03, 2006

Exactly. My BF is seriously considering removing a very nice specimen of Crataegus from her front yard, with my blessing. Those thorns can pierce a gym shoe (and a foot!) far too easily. Her's is underplanted with small spreading evergreens, I think they're junipers, which helps, although it's not a very attractive solution.

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Leftwood Saint Bonifacius, MN(Zone 4a) Nov 03, 2006

Between Robina and Gleditsia, It might seem the reason is logical: the "thorns" are different appendages in the respective trees. My guess is that the genes for thorns are embedded differently in the genetic pattern and thus spur mutations at different rates. Also, exactly how many times has Gleditsia mutated thornless? Or is it just that a single mutation has been continually propagated and selected for other variations to get the selection we have now?

Now that I have spouted off, I wonder what Resin thinks about this . . . .

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dwk001 Naperville, IL(Zone 5b) Nov 03, 2006

A few thornless cultivars of Robinia pseudoacacia appear in various references: these include 'Bessoniana', 'Inermis' (apparently a native thornless subspecies/variant), and 'Umbraculifera.'

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