''Gleditsia sinensis'', known as zào jiá (皂荚) or Chinese honey locust and black locust in English, is a species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

native to Asia.

Description

Zao jia grows as a tree up to 30 m tall. Spines are often branching and are robust, terete, conical and up to 16 cm in length. Leaves are pinnate. Flowers are yellowish-white and polygamous with male flowers being 9-10 mm in diameter and bisexual flowers being 10-12 mm in diameter with slightly longer petals and sepals. Flowers have 4 petals and 4 sepals.

Etymology

In China, ''Gleditsia sinensis'' is commonly known as ''zào jiá'' (). The English equivalents include Chinese honey locust (or Chinese honeylocust), soap bean and soap pod.

Taxonomy

Zao jia is one of 14 species in the ''

Gleditsia ''Gleditsia'' (honey locust) is a genus of trees in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Caesalpinioideae, native to North America and Asia. The Latin name commemorates Johann Gottlieb Gleditsch, director of the Berlin Botanical Garden, who died i ...

'' genus in the ''

Caesalpinioideae Caesalpinioideae is a botanical name at the rank of subfamily, placed in the large family Fabaceae or Leguminosae. Its name is formed from the generic name ''Caesalpinia''. It is known also as the peacock flower subfamily. The Caesalpinioideae ...

'' subfamily of the legume family. Of these, ''

Gleditsia caspica ''Gleditsia caspica'', the Caspian locust or Persian honeylocust, is a species of ''Gleditsia'' native to western Asia, in the Caucasus region of Azerbaijan and northern Iran, close to the Caspian Sea.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). ''New RHS Dictionary ...

'' is the closest phylogenetic relative of ''G. sinensis''.

Traditional medicine

It is one of the "50 fundamental herbs" used in

traditional Chinese medicine Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is an alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China. It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", with the majority of its treatments having no logical mechanism of action ...

. ''Gleditsia sinensis'' has been used in China for at least 2000 years as a

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are more ...

. The thorns of ''Gleditsia sinensis'' are used as a medicinal herb in China and Korea and may have antitumor properties. The thorns of ''Gleditsia sinensis'' LAM. (Leguminosae) have been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory diseases including swelling, suppuration, carbuncle and skin diseases.Ha H.H., Park S.Y., Ko W.S., Kim Y. (2008). "''Gleditsia sinensis'' thorns inhibit the production of NO through NF-B suppression in LPS-stimulated macrophages." ''Journal of Ethnopharmacology''. 118(3):429-434.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1021983 sinensis Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine