Thorns on deciduous trees are rare, but occur mainly on wild fruit and on the native holly (Ilex aquifolium). The reinforcement serves to defend against possible predators, so it has a biological meaning.
The American Locust bears interesting thorns
Deciduous trees with thorns - an overview
In addition to the deciduous trees listed here, some acacia species also have thorns. However, the Acacieae, which is the correct botanical name, from the tropics and subtropics are not sufficiently hardy here and can therefore only be kept in tub culture.
Wild Prunus species
In their wild form, plums as well as mirabelle plums, greengage damsons, plums and apricots often have thorns, which, however, often disappear as the tree or bush grows older. Thorny plums are often seedlings of cultivars or wild shoots growing from the rootstock of a graft.
Wild apple (Malus sylvestris)
The wild apple, also known as crab apple or crab apple, which is widespread in Central Europe, develops numerous thorny short shoots. Incidentally, this is not the original form of our cultivated apple (Malus domestica) - it most likely descends from the Asian wild apple (Malus sieversii).
Wild pear (Pyrus pyraster)
Like the wild apple, the wild or wood pear also belongs to the rose family (Rosaceae). Like many members of the family, this tree, which can grow up to 20 meters in height, has branches and branches reinforced with thorns.
Holly (Ilex)
The native holly is an evergreen, mostly multi-stemmed large shrub or a tree that grows up to ten meters high. Striking are the coarse, single, shiny, dark green leaves, which are more or less wavy on the edge and have prickly teeth. Thus, the thorns do not appear on the branches here, but on the leaves.
American honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos)
The honey locust is a solitary tree that is often planted in parks and along roads. The deciduous tree, which grows to a height of between 10 and 25 metres, has a loose, irregular and spreading crown. Numerous strong, simple or even branched thorns can be formed on the trunk and branches.
Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia)
The robinia, which grows up to 25 meters high, is often incorrectly referred to as "acacia", but is only very distantly related to it. Their twigs and young branches are typically armed with strong thorns. The robinia is one of the bee plants richest in nectar and sugar.
tips
If you come across a deciduous tree with small cones on a walk, it is not a botanical sensation: instead, alders produce cone-like fruits.