Derivations. The specific name, triacanthos, is derived from the Greek treis, three, and canthos, a thorn, having reference to the disposition of the spines, which are mostly triple or compound. The French name, Févier, is probably corrupted from the word fève, a bean, from the resemblance which the pods of this tree bear to those of beans. The German name signifies Three-thorned Honey Thorn. The English and French Canadian names are applied to this species on account of the sweet flavour of the juice of the pods.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 79; Audubon, Birds of America, pl. xlii.; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, v., pl. 90; and the figures below.

Specific Characters. Spines simple or trifid; stout, at the very base compressed, in the upper part cylindrical, but tapered. Leaflets linear-oblong. Legumes flattish, rather crooked, many-seeded, and more than ten times as long as broad.-De Candolle, Prodromus.

Description.

HE Gleditschia triacanthos, in favourable situations, attains a height of seventy or eighty feet, with a trunk three or four feet in diameter, clear of branches to the height of .thirty feet. The bark of the trunk and branches is of a gray colour, and that of the young shoots and spines, of a purplish-brown. When the tree becomes old, the bark of the trunk detaches itself laterally, in plates three or four inches in width, and nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness. When advanced in age, the trunk and branches are armed with large prickles, which, though not ligneous, become hard, and remain attached to the bark for several years. These prickles are not only produced from the young wood, but occasionally

protrude themselves from the trunk, even when the tree is of considerable bulk and age. The trunk often presents a twisted appearance, and the branches proceed from it rather horizontally, than in an upright direction. The foliage is particularly elegant, and is so thin that it scarcely obstructs the passage of the rays of the sun. The leaves are pinnated, and composed of small, oval, sessile eaflets, slightly crenulated at their summits, and of an agreeable, shining, light

green. They appear rather late spring, and begin to turn yellow, and drop off early in autumn. The flowers hich open in June, are small and rather inconspicuous, the male being in the rm of catkin-like racemes, of nearly the same colour of the leaves. The fruit is in the form of flat, crooked, pendulous pods, from twelve to eighteen inches in length, of a reddish-brown colour. They contain numerous hard, smooth, brown seeds, enveloped in a pulpy substance, which, for about a month after maturity, is very sweet, but which, in a few weeks after, becomes extremely sour. The pods often remain upon the trees some time after the leaves have fallen. The seeds usually ripen in the United States towards the end of September.

Varieties. The varieties recognized under this species are as follows:

1. G. T. INERMIS, De Candolle. Spineless Honey Locust, the stem and branches of which are either entirely without spines, or sparingly so. There is a tree of this variety at Syon, near London, seventy-two feet in height, with a trunk nearly two and a half feet in diameter, and an ambitus of seventy-one feet.

2. G. T. BRACHYCARPOS, Michaux. Short-fruited Honey Locust, with short spines, and oblong pods, much shorter than those of the species.

Geography and History. The Gleditschia triacanthos is sparingly found in une United States, from Pennsylvania to Georgia and Louisiana. It seems to belong more particularly to the country west of the Alleghanies; and it is scarcely found growing wild anywhere except in the fertile bottoms which are watered by the rivers that empty themselves into the Mississippi, and Illinois, especially in the southern parts of Kentucky and Tennessee. It is generally associated with the Juglans nigra, Carya squamosa, Ulmus rubra, Fraxinus americana quadrangulata, Robinia pseudacacia, Negundo fraxinifolium, and Gymnocladus canadensis. It is cultivated for ornament in the Atlantic cities and towns, from Schenectady, in New York, to Savannah, in Georgia.

This species was first cultivated in Britain in 1700, by Bishop Compton, in the palace garden, at Fulham; and Miller informs us that it produced pods there of full size, in 1728; but the seeds did not come to maturity.

The largest Gleditschia triacanthos in England, is at Syon, near London, which is fifty-seven feet in height, with a trunk three feet in diameter, and an ambitus of sixty-three feet.

In Renfrewshire, in Scotland, in the Glasgow botanic garden, there is another tree, planted against a wall, which is generally killed down to the ground every year; but in Haddingtonshire, at Tyningham, there is a tree which attained a height of nearly forty feet, in twenty years after planting.

This species was known in France in the time of Du Haniel, who recommends it as an ornamental tree, but liable to have its branches broken by the wind, more especially when the trunk divides into two branches of equal size, and becomes forked at the summit. It ripens its seeds freely in France, as well as in southern Europe generally, from which plants are easily raised.

The largest Gleditschia triacanthos growing in France, is in the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, which attained the height of eighty feet in one hundred years after planting, with a trunk two feet in diameter.

In Italy, at Monza, this species attained the height of thirty feet in twentynine years after planting. It was used also in Lombardy for hedges, but, like the common locust, when tried for the same purpose, was soon abandoned.

In Prussia, at Sans Souci, this tree attained a height of fifty feet in forty-five years after planting.

In Russia, in the Crimea, it ripened seeds, in 1827, from which young plants were raised.

Soil, Situation, Propagation, &c. The Gleditschia triacanthos, in its natural habitat, is never found except where the soil is good, and its presence, Michaux

observes, is an infallible sign of the greatest degree of fertility. When cultivated, it requires a deep, rich, free soil, and a situation not exposed to high winds. The climate should also be somewhat favourable, otherwise the wood of the young branches will not ripen, but will annually be killed off by the frost. In Britain, the species is always propagated from seeds imported from abroad. They are prepared for sowing, by soaking them twelve hours in warm water, as directed for those of the Robinia pseudacacia. They should be sown in March or April, and, if properly prepared, they will come up in two or three weeks. They are best transplanted to the spot where they are finally to remain, when quite young; as they make but few fibrous roots, and these, for the most part, take a downward direction. The varieties can only be insured by grafting or inarching on the species. In general, however, an abundance of plants of the Gleditschia triacanthos inermis may be selected from beds of seedlings of the species. The rate of growth of this tree for the first fifteen or twenty years, is generally about an average of a foot a year; but in favourable situations it will grow at double that

rate.

Insects. One of the greatest enemies to the Gleditschia triacanthos is the Cantharis cinera, or the ash-coloured cantharis, of Harris. It usually appears in gardens in June, and often the foliage of this species is destroyed by these voracious insects. Dr. Harris remarks that they are also very fond of the leaves of the English bean, and that they are occasionally found in considerable numbers on potato vines. It is stated by Smith and Abbot, in their "Insects of Georgia,” that the Phalana concinna, or painted prominent moth, feeds upon this tree as well as upon the apple, persimon, and hickory. The whole brood most commonly come together. They form their webs about the first of June, and the perfect insects make their appearance in about fifteen days after. They likewise spin in autumn, and come out the following spring.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Gleditschia triacanthos, when dry, weighs fifty-two pounds to a cubic foot. It is very hard, and splits with great difficulty, resembling in this, and some other respects, that of the common locust; but its grain is coarser, and its pores more open. This tree is neither used by the builder nor the wheelwright, but is sometimes employed, in Kentucky, where it is the most abundant, for rural fences, where wood of a more durable kind cannot be procured. Michaux says that the only useful purpose for which he thinks the tree fit, is for making hedges, but it has not succeeded either in Europe or in America. A sugar has been extracted from the pulp of the pods, and a beer made by fermenting it while fresh.

In general, this species, as well as all others of the genus, can only be considered as ornamental trees; but in that character, they hold a high rank. The delicate, light-green foliage, and beautifully varied, graceful, and picturesque forms assumed by this tree, together with the singular feature afforded by its spines, will always entitle it to a place in ornamental plantations.

Derivation. The specific name, monosperma, is derived from the Greek monos, one, and sperma, a seed, having reference to the growing of only one seed in each pod. The French, German, and Italian names have the same signification. It is called Water Locust, on account of its growing only in large swamps that border rivers, where the soil is constantly wet, and often inundated at the season of the rising of the waters.

Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pl. 80; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., figure 364; and the figures

below.

Specific Characters. Spines slender, not rarely trifid, few. Leaflets ovate-oblong, acute. Legumes flattish, roundish, 1-seeded.-De Candolle, Prodromus.

Description.

HE Gleditschia mo

in its nat

nosperma,
ural habitat, attains.
Ma height of sixty or

eighty feet, with a trunk from one to two feet in
diameter. In some respects it closely resem-
bles the preceding species. The bark, though
smooth when the tree is young, cracks and
scales off when it becomes old. The branches
are armed with thorns, and are less numerous,
and somewhat smaller than those of the Gle-
ditschia triacanthos; and the leaves differ from
it in being more diminutive in all their pro-

portions. The flowers, which open in June and July, are inconspicuous, of a greenish colour, and destitute of odour. They are succeeded by flat, roundish pods, of a reddish colour, about an inch in diameter, united in bunches of three, each of which contains a single, naked seed. The seeds usually come to maturity, in the United States, early in September.

Geography, History, &c. The Gleditschia monosperma, along the sea-board, is found indigenous to South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida, Louisiana, and Texas; and west of the Alleghanies, it is found in Illinois. It grows only in large swamps that border the rivers, where the soil is rich and moist, or is occasionally overflowed at the season of the rising waters. In such soils it is found growing among the Taxodium distichum, Nyssa grandidentata, Acer rubrum, Quercus lyrata, Planera ulmifolia, Juglans cathartica, and other trees, requiring a deep, rich, moist soil.

This species was introduced into Britain, in 1723, by Mark Catesby, and treated in all respects like the Gleditschia triacanthos, of which it was considered, until within a few years, only a variety

The largest tree bearing this name in England, is at Syon, near London, which has attained a height of more than eighty feet, with a trunk two feet in diameter, and an ambitus of forty feet.

In France, where this species is not much cultivated, it is thought to be more liable to injury from frost, than the Gleditschia triacanthos, as it does not appear to produce seeds. At Scéaux, near Paris, there is a tree more than fifty feet in height.

In Hanover, in the botanic garden at Göttingen, a tree of this species attained the height of thirty feet in twenty-five years after planting.

In Austria, at Vienna, in the botanic garden, another tree of this species attained the height of thirty-six feet in twenty-two years.

Properties and Uses. The wood of the Gleditschia monosperma resembles that of the three-thorned Gleditschia, in its loose texture, and yellow colour; but as it grows in wet grounds, it is consequently inferior in quality, and is applied to no particular use in the arts.