Derivations. The specific names tinctoria and lutea, have reference to the yellow colour which the wood of this tree 'mparts

to water.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 78; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, v., pl. 78; and the figures below. Specific Characters. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets 9-11, petiolate, alternate, ovate-acuminate, entire, glaucous beneath, the odd one larger, ovate-rhomboidal, base acute. Flowers in simple, lax, nodding racemes, white, odorous. Pods smooth.

The

ter of ten to twelve inches. The trunk is covered with a greenish bark, which is smooth, instead of being furrowed, like that of most other trees. branches are brittle, and like the petioles and nerves of the leaves, are of a yellowish hue. The leaves on young and thrifty stocks are from a foot to a foot and a half in length, and on old trees they are not more than half of that size. They are composed of two rows of leaflets, which are petiolulate, broadly oval, entire, smooth, the terminal one rhomboid-ovate, acuminate, an inch and a half to two inches broad, and from three to four inches long. As in the Platanus occidentalis, (sycamore,) the lower part of the common footstalk

contains an embryo bud, which becomes visible in removing the leaf. The flowers, which appear in April and May, form elegant white, pendulous racemes, from six to ten inches long, resembling those of the Robinia pseudacacia, (locust,) but less odoriferous. The seeds are contained in flat, even pods, from three to four inches long, and about one fourth of an inch wide, the margins of which are often somewhat undulate by the abortion of a portion of the seeds. In the United States the seeds mature in the month of August; but in Britain, the tree is seldom seen in flower, which is probably owing more to the age of the trees than to the effects of the climate.

Geography and History. The Cladrastis tinctoria is a native of Kentucky, western Tennessee, and northern Alabama, where it is sparingly produced. It is successfully cultivated as an ornamental tree in many parts of the United States, and is perfectly hardy as far north as Massachusetts.

This tree was discovered by Michaux, the younger, and was sent by him to France, previous to the year 1809. It was first introduced into England by Mr. John Lyon, in 1812, and seeds having since been frequently sent to Europe, it is how to be met with in all the chief collections.

The largest recorded tree of this species in England, is at White Knights, near Reading, which attained the height of twenty-three feet in twenty-five years after planting, with a trunk five inches in diameter, and an ambitus, or spread of branches, of twenty feet.

In Ireland, near Dublin, in the Cullenswood nursery, there is another tree, which attained the height of twenty-five feet in seventeen years after planting.

At Cambridge, in Massachusetts, in the botanic garden, there is a Virgilia about thirty feet in height, with a trunk ten or twelve inches in diameter. In the Bartram botanic garden, at Kingsessing, near Philadelphia, there is also a tree of this species of about the same dimensions, and another in the garden of Mr. D. Landreth, of Philadelphia, twenty-five feet high, with a trunk six feet in circumference, and about thirty-five years planted.

Soil, Situation, &c. In its natural habitat, the Virgilia grows on gentle declivities, in a loose, deep, and fertile soil, and is usually associated with the Morus rubra, Gymnocladus canadensis, Gleditschia, Juglans, and other trees which delight in a good soil. When cultivated, an open, airy situation is desirable, in order that it may ripen its wood; and, to promote the same purpose in a cold climate, the soil should be dry, rather than rich. It is readily propagated by seeds, in the same manner as the common locust.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Cladrastis tinctoria is soft, fine-grained, and is remarkable for the deep-yellow colour of its heart, which speedily imparts this hue to cold water. But the colour is fugitive, even when the wood is boiled with alum. There is but very little use made of this tree either in Europe or America, except for the purposes of ornament and botanical interest. It is rather late in coming into leaf, and its leaves fall very early, previously becoming of a fine yellow. Independent of its beautiful vegetation, the brilliant colour of its heart would appear to be a sufficient inducement for cultivating the species for the purpose of dyeing.

25

Derivations. The genus Robinia was named in honour of Jean Robin, a French botanist, once herbalist to Henry IV., or France. Eschynomene is a name given by Pliny to a plant, resembling the locust in its character, which contracted its leaves from the touch of the hand. It was derived from the Greek aischunomai, which signifies to be modest. Pseudacacia is derived from the Greek pseudos, false, and acacia, from the resemblance of trees of this genus to the Acacia vera, or true Egyp tian acacia.

Generic Characters. Calyx short, and somewhat campanulate, 5-toothed or 5-cleft; the two upper segments shorter, approximated or cohering. Vexillum broad and large; keel obtuse. Stamens diadelphous, deciduous. Style bearded along the inside (next the free stamen.) Legume many-seeded, compressed, nearly sessile, the seminiferous suture margined; valves flat and thin. Seeds flat. Leaves unequally pinnate; leaflets petiolulate, stipellate. Flowers showy, white, or rose-colour, in simple, usually pendant axillary racemes.-Torrey and Gray, Flora.

HE trees of the genus Robinia are chiefly natives of North America, and are highly prized for their use and beauty. They are all readily propagated from seeds, by cuttings of the branches and roots, or by grafting; and they will grow in any kind of soil that is not too wet. They are generally rapid in their growth, and of a corresponding longevity. In common with most trees and plants of rapid growth, they have the property of extending the principal roots close under the surface where the soil is usually the richest. But the same cause that produces this luxuriance at first, ultimately occasions the tree to grow more slowly, unless the roots are allowed ample space on every side; since, as they seldom penetrate deep, they soon exhaust all of their proper pabulum from the soil within their reach. For this reason, also, such trees are objectionable in hedge-rows, or scattered in groups in arable lands, where their roots prove a serious impediment to the plough, and shoot up in suckers, which injure the crops. On the other hand, roots which penetrate the earth perpendicularly, as well as horizontally, belong to trees more slow and uniform in their growth, and attain a larger size in proportion to the extent of ground they occupy. It does not appear, however, that a rich soil is particularly injured by the Robinia; for, it is remarked that in Kentucky and western Tennessee, where the Robinia pseudacacia attains its largest size, and produces excellent timber, the land, when cleared, will yield from thirty to sixty bushels of maize to an acre, for several years in succession, without manure. And it has been asserted that moderately poor and worn-out lands in America may be restored to fertility by planting them with the locust, from the deposition of its leaves, bark, seeds, &c.. which undergo rapid decomposition, and are thereby converted into vegetable mould.

Red Locust, Green Locust, White Locust, OTHER PARTS OF THE UNITED STATES.

Derivations. This species, when first introduced into Europe, was supposed to be the Egyptian acacia, (Acacia vera,) but was afterwards contradistinctively named False Acacia. It was named Locust-tree by the missionaries, who were among the early collectors of trees, and who fancied that it was the tree that supported St. John in the wilderness. The word Carouge, is the French name for carob bean, the locust-tree of Spain; which, being also indigenous to Syria, is probably the true locust, mentioned in the New Testament. The German name, Schotendorn, is compounded of schote, a pod or legume, and dorn, a thorn, having reference to the pods and spines which this species bears.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 76; Audubon, Birds of America, pl. cix.; Loudon, Arboretum Britan nicum, v., pl. 83; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Prickles stipular. Branches twiggy. Racemes of flowers loose and pendulous; and smooth, as are the legumes. Leaflets ovate. The flowers are white, and sweet-scented; the roots creeping, and their fibres sometimes bearing tubercules.-De Candolle, Prodromus.

Description.

HE Robinia pseudaca-
cia, from the valuable

properties of its wood, and the beauty of its foliage and flowers, ranks among the first trees of the American forests. In favourable situations, it attains a height of eighty or ninety feet, and sometimes exceeds four feet in diameter; but ordinarily, it does not surpass half of these dimensions. On the trunks and large limbs of old trees, the bark is very thick, and deeply furrowed, but on young trees, not more than two or three inches in diameter, it is armed with strong, hooked prickles, which disappear altogether as they grow old; and in some varieties they are wanting even when young. These prickles are only attached to the bark, like those of the common rose, or the

bramble; but do not proceed from the wood, like the spines of the hawthorn, cockspur, and other thorns. The branches have a general tendency upwards when the tree is young, but as it grows old, they partake more of a horizontal direction; and like the trunk, become somewhat contorted. The foliage is light and agreeable to the eye, each leaf being composed of opposite leaflets, eight, ten, or twelve, and sometimes more in number, surmounted by an odd one. The leaflets are nearly sessile, oval. thin, with a texture so fine and a surface so smooth, that the dust which falls on them will scarcely adhere; which last circumstance renders this tree particularly eligible for planting along roadsides, in the neighbourhood of cities and towns, or in great thoroughfares. The flowers, which open in March, at St. Mary's, in Georgia, and two months later in Pennsylvania, sometimes appear at the former place late in autumn. They are disposed in pendulous bunches, from three to five inches long, perfectly white, and sometimes yellowish, and diffuse an agreeable odour. They are succeeded by narrow, flat pods, from two to three inches long, and about half of an inch wide; each of which contains five or six small, brown, or black seeds, that ripen in the middle and northern states in the month of October.

Varieties. We are inclined to believe that there are but two forms of the Robinia indigenous to North America, that may be regarded as distinct, and that the several varieties or races commonly treated as species, are the result of soil, climate, or cross fecundation. For, the common locust varies much in its different native localities, and also has long been cultivated from seeds in Europe, which has brought forth numerous varieties, the foliage of which is tolerably distinct when the plants are young. By carefully comparing the descriptions of various authors, we recognize the following varieties or races, which may be classed under this species:

1. R. P. INTERMEDIA, Soulange-Bodin. This kind is thought to be a hybrid between the Robinia pseudacacia and viscosa. The branches, petioles, &c., are furnished with but few glands, and are rarely clammy. The flowers are sweetscented, and of a pale rose-colour. The pods are sometimes thickly set with short prickles.

2. R. P. HISPIDA, Lin. obovate, and are nearly and legumes are hispid.

rous.

The Hispid Rose Acacia. The leaves of this race are twice the size of the Robinia pseudacacia. The branches The flowers are large, of a dark rose-colour, and inodo

3. R. P. ROSEA, Pursh. Rose Acacia. This variety differs from the R. p. hispida in not having the branches and petioles hispid, and in growing to an inconsiderable shrub.

4. R. P. GRANDIFLORA, Loudon. The Large-flowered Rose Acacia. The leaves of this variety are large, and ovate-roundish. The branches and peduncles are glabrous, and without prickles. The flowers are large, of a rose-colour, and inodorous.

5. R. P. FLORE LUTEO, Dumont de Courset. Yellow-flowered Robinia. 6. R. P. INERMIS, De Candolle.

The Unarmed Robinia. Leaves flat. Prickles,

wanting, or nearly obsolete. 7. R. P. CRISPA, De Candolle. The Crisp-leafleted Robinia. The prickles of this variety are wanting. The leaflets, for the most part, are undulately curled.. 8. R. P. TORTUOSA, De Candolle. The Twisted-trunked Robinia. The branches of this variety are much crowded and twisted. Flowers small, and not abundant.

9. R. P. UMBRACULIFERA, De Candolle.

The Parasol Acacia. The branches of

this variety are much crowded, and smooth; its head orbicular; and, according to Dumont de Courset, its flowers are yellow.