Locust of Square René-Viviani

Locust of square René-Viviani
Species	Robinia pseudoacacia
Location	5th arrondissement of Paris
Coordinates	48°51′8.0″N 2°20′50.3″E / 48.852222°N 2.347306°E / 48.852222; 2.347306
Height	11 m (36 ft)
Girth	3.85 m (12.6 ft)
Date seeded	1601

The locust of the square René-Viviani is a French remarkable tree located in the square René-Viviani in the 5th arrondissement of Paris. Planted in 1601, it is the oldest tree in Paris.^[1]

This Robinia pseudoacacia (often wrongly called an "acacia") was sown in 1601 by the French botanist Jean Robin (1550-1629).^[2]

Linnaeus gave this name in tribute to the botanist of king Louis XIII. Robin received seeds from the Appalachian Mountains by the British naturalist John Tradescant the Elder (1570-1638).^[1] Robin sowed several locusts in Paris. One of them in 1601 on the place Dauphine, but this tree was destroyed. A sprout of this tree was planted by his son Vespasien Robin on the Jardin des Plantes in Paris in 1636 and is still alive.

The tree reaches a height of more than 11 m (36 ft) (while in general locust trees do not exceed 10 m (33 ft) and a circumference of 3.85 m (12.6 ft).^[3]

The weight of the branches caused the trunk to lean and concrete supports were built to hold the tree up. The trunk was struck by lightning. In 2021, the Paris City Hall website indicated that it was 15 m (49 ft) tall and 3.5 m (11 ft) m in circumference. It blooms in April-May.

Numerous shoots grow in the spring at the foot of the tree and are removed each year. For many years, the tree was covered with ivy to hide these concrete supports. But to avoid the risk of suffocating the tree, the ivy was removed in 2016.

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  The locust covered by ivy
• 
  The trunk with traces of lightning