N. ORD.--LEGUMINOS. | 50 
* ‘Tribe. —GALEGEA. 
GENUS.—ROBINIA,* LINN. 
SEX, SYST.—DIADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
ROBINIA. 
FALSE ACACTA. 
SYN.—ROBINIA PSEUD-ACACIA, LINN.; PSEUDACACIA ODORATA, 
MOENCH. 
COM. NAMES.—COMMON LOCUST, YELLOW LOCUST, TREENAIL, BLACK 
LOCUST; (FR.) ROBINIER; (GER.) FALSCHE ACACIEN. 
A TINCTURE OF THE FRESH BARK OF YOUNG TWIGS, ROBINIA PSEUD-ACACIA. 
Description.—This commonly cultivated, ornamental tree, grows to a height 
of from 50 to 8o feet, attaining its greatest height only in the southern parts of 
the United States. The séem is erect, straight, deliquescent, from 1 to 4 feet in 
diameter and covered with a dark, rough bark; wood yellow, much valued for 
its lightness, hardness and durability. Branches naked, spinous when young, the 
spines taking the place of stipules. Leaves odd-pinnate, the base of the stalks 
forming sheaths about the developing buds of the next season; /eafle¢s in from 
8 to 12 pairs of ovate or oblong, stipellate, nearly sessile, smooth blades. nflor- 
escence axillary; of showy, drooping, slender, loose racemes ; of white or creamy, 
fragrant flowers. Cadyx short, more or less campanulate, five-toothed or cut and 
slightly two-lipped by the coherence of the two upper teeth. Corolla papilliona- 
ceous; standard large, rounded and reflexed, slightly longer than the wezgs, and 
obtuse eel. Stamens diadelphous, nine-and-one. Style bearded along the inner 
side. /7yuzt a nearly sessile, smooth, linear, flat pod, from 2 to 3 inches long, one- 
celled and four- to eight-seeded, at length with two thin valves. Szeds small, dark 
brown, somewhat renniform, but the hilum is small and so near one end that their 
form is more like the body of a retort; festa smooth; radvcle incurved ; cotyledons 
leafy. For description of the N. Ord. Leguminose, wde Genista tinctoria, 46. 
History and Habitat.—This tree is indigenous to the central and southern 
belts of the United States, and so fully cultivated in the northern parts, that it 
now grows there spontaneously, blossoming in May and June. The inner bark 
of the roots, stem, and inner coating of the pods is sweet and mucilaginous. The 
seeds, upon pressure, yield a large quantity of oil. They are quite acrid, but lose 
this quality upon boiling; they then furnish a pleasant, nutritious article of food, 
much esteemed by the aborigines. The yellow locust should take first rank 
among ornamental trees to be planted by settlers in the West, not only on 
* John Robin, herbalist to Henry IV. 
