DENDROLOGY. 161 



GLEDITSCHIA. 



Polygamia Dicecia. Linn. Leguminosce. Jess. Jlpcrient, emollient. 



Water Locust. Gleditschia monosperma. 



The Water Locust is first seen in the Atlantic States in the 

 lower part of South Carolina, in which place, as well as in 

 Georgia and East Florida, this tree, though not very rare, is not 

 common. In the Western Country it is found 3 or 4 degrees 

 farther north in Illinois. In the southern and maritime parts of 

 the United States this tree is designated by no other name than 

 the one which we have adopted, and grows only in large swamps 

 that border the rivers, where the soil is constantly wet and often 

 inundated at the season of the rising of the waters. 



The water locust grows to the height of 50 or 60 feet, and 

 from one to two feet in diameter. The bark upon the trunk of 

 young trees is smooth ; on old stocks it is cracked, but less 

 deeply furrowed than that of the oaks and the walnuts. The 

 branches, like those of the sweet locust, are armed with thorns, 

 which are less numerous, smaller and more pointed ; they are 

 often simple, or accompanied near the base with a single secon- 

 dary thorn. The leaves nearly resemble those of the sweet 

 locust, from which they differ in being a little smaller in all their 

 proportions. The flowers, which are not conspicuous, open in 

 June, and are of a greenish color and destitute of odor. These 

 are succeeded by reddish pods about an inch in diameter, and 

 are united in bunches of three, each of which contains a single 

 naked seed. 



The w T ood of this tree resembles that of the sweet locust in its 

 loose texture and yellow color ; but as it grows in wet grounds, 

 it is consequently inferior in quality. 



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