What varieties of Gleditsia sinensis are there? A detailed introduction to the main varieties

1. Mountain Chinese honey locust (G. melanacantha Tanget Wang): Its main features are grayish-green branchlets, hairless, branched spines, but slightly flattened, dark brown. Once-pinnately compound leaves, with 6-22 leaflets, margins with fine rounded serrations. Dioecious, pods linear, papery, brown-black, twisted, up to 20-30 cm long.

2. Japanese honey locust (G. japonica Miq.): Similar to the mountain Chinese honey locust, the main difference from the mountain Chinese honey locust is that this species has greenish-brown to reddish-brown branchlets. The leaflets are noticeably larger and thicker than those of the mountain Chinese honey locust, the leaves on new branches are mostly twice-pinnately compound, and the pods are long, flat, and rounded, twisted, and have blister-like raised areas.

3. Pig's tooth pod (G. officinalis Hemsl): This species is similar to the Chinese honey locust, the bark is dark gray-black, with relatively deep vertical fissures, the spines are single or branched, conical, reddish-brown, often densely growing at the forks of old branches, the branchlets are gray, the lenticels are prominent, the leaves are once evenly pinnately compound, with 6-16 leaflets, margins with irregular fine serrations, the leaflet stalks are dark brown and densely covered with down. The pods are of two types: the small pod is sickle-shaped, thick and fleshy, without seeds; the large pod is flat, straight or slightly curved, with several seeds. Both large and small pods have a long beak. After ripening, they are reddish-brown and covered with a frosty powder. A specialty tree species of Zoucheng, Shandong, the pods are used as medicine.

4. Wild Chinese honey locust (G. heterophylla Bunge): Mostly shrubs, bark gray. Mostly two-branched spines, slender and short. Current-year branches densely covered with grayish-yellow short soft hairs, once or twice pinnately compound leaves, with 10-28 leaflets, the leaf blades are relatively small, only 0.8-1.2 cm long, axillary or terminal spikes, flowers white, pods with long stalks, oblong, flat and thin, with a pointed beak, after ripening reddish-brown, with 1-3 seeds, mostly used as hedges.