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Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia' False Acacia
thanks for that yes it has spikes and yes its half dead!
Lots of them have died off over the last couple of years. They don't respond well to pruning, either!
Frisia Dieback is well documented - they are very weak trees as it is (the lack of chlorophyll is what gives them their pale colour - also reduces the trees ability to produce sugars to fuel a fight).
The vast majority are also grafted onto rootstocks of standard Psudoacacia - I have seen some where the root system has grown 2x the rate of the graft, with large bulky stumps - and rapid narrowing (over 2 inches) to the grafted stem - it appears that the root system drains much of the grafts resources - as it is very vigourous species of plant - but the frisia variety is anything but.
http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/tree-health-care/8148-robinia-problem-3....
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=401
http://www.tree-care.info/uktc/archive/2008/msg03887
I had a beautful Frisia in my garden up until about 4 years ago when the leaves became covered with brown splotches and dropped before the end of the Summer. The following year I pruned it back really hard and the tree grew again, despite the fact that it doesn't like being pruned. It grew really big spikes on the new branches. Sadly it has dropped all it's leaves again and I have now had to remove it completely. Not a tree that I would buy again although the green leafed/pink flower ones seem ok.
Debbie