Glcd'Usch ia triara n th os, 



THE THREE-THORNED GLEDITSCHIA. 



Synonymes. 



Gkditschia tnacanthos, 



(liiftt^MVs, Species Plantarum. 

 I De Candoli.e, Prodromus. 



IMiciiAux, North American Sylva. 

 Loudon, Arboretum Bntannicum. 

 ToRREY AND Gray, Flora of North America. 

 Fevier d'Amenque, Fevier a trois epines, France. 



Germany. 



Dreidorniger Honigdorn, 



Acacia spinosa, Gleditschia spinosa, Fava 



americana, 

 Fevier, 



Honey-shuck Locust, 

 Honey Locust, Sweet Locust, Thorny U^^^^,^ ^^^ ^^^^_^^j^j^^ 



Acacia. 1 uree-uiomcd Acacia. ) 



Italy. 



French Canada. 

 Kentucky. 



Derirations. The specific name, triacanthoi, 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, F&cier, is probably corrupted from 

 the word fite, a bean, from the resemblance which the pods of this tree bear to those of l>eans. The German name si^ifiee 

 Threeihorned 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, pi. 79; Audubon, Birds of America, pi. xlii. ; Loudon, Arboretum Britan- 

 uicum, v., pi. 90; and the figures below. 



Specific Characters. Spines simple or trifid ; stout, at the very base compressed, in the upper part cylin- 

 drical, but tapered. Leaflets linear-oblong. Legumes flattish, rather crooked, many-seeded, and more 

 than ten times as long as broad. De CandoUe, Prodromus. 



Description. 



HE Gleditschia tria- 



^ h H [^ canthos, in favoura- 



^ LI ^ ble situations, attains 



^^^S 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 withi 

 large prickles, which, though not ligneous, be- 

 come hard, and remain attached to the bark for 

 several years. These prickles are not only pro- 

 duced from the young wood, but occasionally i 

 })rotrude themselves from the trunk, even when the tree is of considerable bulk 

 and age. The trunk often presents a twisted appearance, and the branches pro- 

 ceed 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 crenulatcd at their summits, and of an agreeable, shining, light- 



