114 PULSE FAMILY. 



remarkable for hanging edgewise. Flowers in early summer ; ripening in late 

 autumn, the large and indurated pod 5' - 10' long and 1^' - 2' wide ; the seeds 

 over ^' across. 



64. GLEDITSCHIA, HONEY-LOCUST. (Named for the early Ger. 



man botanist, Gtedfaeh.) Fl. early summer, inconspicuous, ripening the pods 



late in autumn. Thorns simple or compound ; those ou the branchlets above 



the axils. Leaves on growing shoots of the season twice pinnate ; those in 



clusters on spurs mostly once pinnate. 



G. triacanthos, THKEE-THORNED ACACIA or COMMON H. "Wild in 

 rich soil from Penn. S. & W., also commonly planted for shade, sometimes used 

 for hedges: a rather tall tree, Avith light foliage, large often very compound 

 'thorns flattish at the base and tapering, small lance-oblong leaflets, and linear 

 flat pods 9' -20' long, often twisted or curved. A var. i KERMIS has very few or 

 no thorns. 



G. Sin6nsis, CHINESE H., occasionally planted, has stouter conical thorns, 

 and broader oval leaflets. 



G. monosp6rma, ONE-SEEDED or WATER H. Swamps from Illinois 

 S. W. : small tree, with slender thorns, ovate or oblong leaflets, and oval 1 -seeded 

 pods, containing no pulp. 



55. MIMOSA, SENSITIVE-PLANT. (From Greek word to mimic, i. c. 



the movements imitating an animal faculty.) There arc wild shrubby species 



in Texas and farther S. The following are herbs, procumbent or trailing, 



with bristly short pods. 



M. pudica, COMMON S. Beset with spreading bristly hairs and somewhat 

 prickly ; the leaves very sensitive to the touch, of very numerous linear leaflets 

 on 2 pairs of branches of the common petiole, crowded on its apex, so as to 

 appear digitate ; flowers rose-purple, in slender-peduncled heads, in summer. 

 Cult, from South America, (i) 



M. Strigillbsa, WILD S. Rough with appressed stiff bristles, not prickly ; 

 leaves with 5 or 6 pairs of branches of the common petiole, each bearing 10-14 

 pairs of oblong-linear leaflets ; flowers rose-color ; oblong head on very long 

 peduncle. Wild on river-banks far S. : fl. summer. 2/ 



*56. SCHRANKIA, SENSITIVE-BRIER. (Named for a German bot- 

 anist, Schrank.) Two species wild in dry sandy soil, S. & W., spreading on 

 the ground, appearing much alike, with leaves closing like the Sensitive- 

 Plant, but only under ruder handling : flowers rose-purple, small, in globular 

 heads on axillary peduncles, in summer. ^/ 



S. uncinata. Stems, petioles, peduncles, and oblong-linear short-pointed 

 pods beset with rather stout hooked prickles ; leaflets elliptical, reticulated with 

 strong veins underneath. 



S. angustata. Prickles scattered, weaker, and less hooked ; leaflets oblong- 

 linear, not reticulated ; pods slender, taper-pointed. 



57. DESMANTHTJS. (Greek-made name, meaning that the flowers are 

 bound together : they are merely crowded in a head. A fcAv species very far 

 S., and the following W. 



D. brachylobus. Prairies from Illinois S. & W. : nearly smooth, l-4 

 high, erect, with 6-15 pairs of partial petioles, each bearing 20 - 30 pairs of 

 very small narrow leaflets, one or more glands on the main petiole, small heads 

 of whitish flowers, followed by short 2 - 6-seeded pods ; stamens 5. % 



58. ALBIZZIA, SILK-FLOWER. (Named for an Italian botanist.) 



A. Julibrissin, SILK-FLOWER or SILK-TREE, from Asia, planted for 

 ornament S. : a small tree, with leaves of numerous pairs of partial petioles, 

 each bearing about 60 oblong acute leaflets, which appear as if halved, and with 

 panicled heads of rather large pale rose-purple flowers, the long and lustrous 

 filaments, like siiky threads in tufts (giving the popular name), being mainly 

 conspicuous ; pod 5' -- 6' long, oblong-linear, very flat and thin. 



