This is a beautiful golden leaved tree with frondy like foliage, and is known as the Honey Locust. It has a rounded and spreading form and is a small deciduous tree. It has inconspicuous flowers followed by large flattened seed pods.
It can be a nuisance because it suckers – constantly trimmed it could make a good hedge.
Folklore and unproven medicinal history: (Do NOT try, do NOT eat). The pods are a folk remedy for dyspepsia and measles among the Cherokee Indians. A tea made from the bark is used to treat whooping cough. Delaware Indians used the bark for blood disorders and coughs, the Fox Indians for colds, fevers, measles and smallpox. A potable alcohol can be made by fermenting the pulp, and the seeds have been roasted and used as a coffee substitute. (But you’d have to be fairly desperate).