458 WOODY PLANTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



some; but to this there are some striking exceptions. The seeds, 

 roots and leaves of some species are poisonous. Many, as the 

 Cassia, Senna, and others, have cathartic properties. Some of 

 them are powerful tonics, and others, from possessing an analo- 

 gous principle,, are of use in tanning. A few have narcotic pro- 

 perties, and some contain a principle which is poisonous. Gum 

 lac, gum Arabic, gum anime, gum tragacanth, and manna, are 

 derived from plants belonging to this family. Many of the 

 woods are valuable as furnishing dyes. Such are Brazil wood, 

 Logwood and Sandal wood. The most valuable of the bal- 

 sams, the Balsam of Copaiva, Balsam of Peru, and of Tolu, 

 flow from wounds in others ; and the fragrant Tonka bean is 

 the produce of a plant of the same comprehensive family. 



De Candolle, in his Prodromus, divides this vast family into 

 four sub-orders, and these into eleven tribes, which are still 

 farther divided into sub-tribes. His first sub-order is 



The Papilionaceous, Papilionacece, L., comprehending plants having a calyx 

 with distinct lobes ; and a papilionaceous, or butterfly- shaped corolla. These 

 are arranged in two divisions, the first comprehending plants whose cotyledons 

 in germination rise above the surface and become green like leaves : the sec- 

 ond, those whose fleshy cotyledons remain beneath the surface. To this latter 

 division belong those valuable plants, which, under the name of pulse, furnish 

 so much food to man. 



Of the first the seeds are not eaten, but it includes many val- 

 uable trees. 



TRIBE I. LO'TEJE. 



Sub-Tribe IV. Gattgeas. DC. II, 243. 



Legume 1-celled. Stamens in two bundles, more rarely in one. Herbs, 

 Shrubs and Trees. (Galegeae, Torrey, Tribe III, Flora of N. A., p. 292, 

 which also includes two genera of the sub-tribe Clitbrece). 



THE LOCUST TREE. ROBI'NIA. L. 



A North American genus of a few species of trees or shrubs, 

 often bearing stipular spines, with leaves unequally pinnate, 

 the leaflets on short stems with little stipules at base. The 

 flowers are white, rose, or flesh-colored, in showy, axillary ra- 

 cemes, usually pendent. The calyx has 5, lanceolate teeth, the 



