A tree with pinnate, dark green leaves with 3 to 10 pairs of oval, blunt leaflets and very fragrant white flowers in long pendant racemes, which are followed by smooth, dark brown seedpods.  Bark of mature trees is deeply grooved and ridged.  Spreads by root-suckers.  Some trees bear long thorns but this has been bred out of many cultivars. 

A commonly planted cultivar, 'Frisia', has bright golden-green leaves.

Usually in parks and on road verges as a planted tree, but sometimes escaping to establish in the wild.

Flowers June and July.

Deciduous tree.

Scattered localities, mainly in southern Britain.

Occasional in Leicestershire and Rutland. In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 4 of the 617 tetrads.