Season 7 | Episode 8
Rethinking Black Locust
August 1, 2026
Black locust doesn’t have many fans among foresters in North America. It’s often criticized for growing crooked, spreading aggressively, and producing poor-quality stems. But is the problem really the tree, or is it how we’ve been growing it? In this episode, Zsolt Keserű, Ph.D., Head of the Department of Plantation Forestry and Senior Research Fellow at the Hungarian Forest Research Institute, University of Sopron, shares how decades of European research and silvicultural innovation have made it possible to grow straight, high-quality black locust timber. Join us for this episode of SilviCast as we talk about the genetics and management practices behind successful black locust plantations, why the species has become such an important hardwood in parts of Europe, and what North American foresters can learn from that experience. If you’ve written off black locust, this conversation might make you take a second look.
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Guest On This Episode
Zsolt Keserű, Ph.D.
head of department, senior research fellow, Forest Research Institute, Department of Plantation Forestry, University of Sopron
Dr. Zsolt Keserű is a Hungarian agronomist and forest scientist specializing in plantation forestry, agroforestry, and sustainable land management. As Senior Scientist, Head of Department, and Experimental Station Manager at the University of Sopron – Forest Research Institute, he leads research on plantation forestry, with a particular focus on black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.). His work explores black locust cultivation, breeding, agroforestry applications, carbon sequestration, climate change mitigation, and soil–tree–crop interactions.
Dr. Keserű earned his Agricultural Engineering degree and PhD from the University of Debrecen. He has authored more than 219 scientific publications and 21 books and book chapters, making significant contributions to black locust research and its role in sustainable forestry and climate-smart land management.
In 2026, he obtained a postgraduate degree in Tree Inspection and Arboriculture from the Institute of Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning and Garden Art at the Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Investigating the usability of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) cultivars for feed purposes in Hungary. Tömösközi-Farkas et. al, Agroforestry Systems. May 2026.
Soil temperature and weather factors as key drivers of flowering phenology and nectar production in black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) in Hungary. Porcsin et. al, Journal of Forest Science. April 2026.
Growth and Multispectral Analysis of New Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) Clones. Ábri et. al, Forests. February 2026.
Methodological basis of Black Locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) regeneration by coppicing: case studies. Keserű et. al, Acta Agraria Debreceniensis. December 2025.
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