CHAP, XLI. LEGUMINA CEX. ROBI'N/A. 609 
Genus XII. 
¥ ¥lle 
ROBINIA Lin. Tae Rostnia, or Locust TREE. Lin. Syst. Diadélphia 
Decandria. , 
Identification. Dec. Mém. Lég., 6.; Prod., 2. p. 261. ; Don’s Mill. 2. p. 237. S$: 
Synonymes. Pseudacacia Tourn. Inst., t. 417.; Mcench Meth., 145.; Robinier, Fr.; Robinie, Ger. 
Derivation. Named in honour of Jean Robin, a French botanist, once herbalist to Henry IV. of 
France, author, of Histoire des Plantes, 12mo, Paris, 1620; printed with the second edition of 
Lonicer’s History of Plants. His son Vespasian was sub-demonstrator at the Jardin des Plantes 
in Paris, and was the first person who cultivated the Robinéa Pseud-Acacia in Europe. 
Description. Deciduous trees, natives of North America, where one of the 
species is highly valued for its timber. In Europe, all the species are much 
prized both for their use and beauty. They are readily propagated by seeds, 
large truncheons of the stem and branches, cuttings of the roots, or by graft- 
ing; and they will grow in any soil that is not too wet. Their roots are 
creeping, and their branches very brittle: they grow rapidly, but are not 
generally of long duration. Their rapid growth is a property that they 
have in common with all trees and plants the principal roots of which extend 
themselves close under the surface; because there the soil is always richest: 
but the same cause that produces this rapidity at first, occasions the tree to 
grow slowly afterwards, unless the roots are allowed ample space on every 
side; since, as they never penetrate deep, they soon exhaust all the soil within 
their reach. For this reason, also, such trees are objectionable as hedgerow 
trees, or as scattered groups in arable lands ; their roots proving a serious iui- 
pediment to the plough, and the suckers thrown up by them choking the corn 
crops. Roots, on the other hand, which penetrate perpendicularly as well as 
horizontally, belong to more slowly, but more steadily, growing trees, which 
always attain a larger size in proportion to the extent of ground they occupy. 
¥ 1.R. Psrevu‘p-Aca‘c1a Lin. The common Robinia, or False Acacia. 
> 
Identification. Lin. Sp., 1043.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 261.; Lam. IIL, t. 666. f. 1.; N. Du Ham. 2.t. 16. ; 
Don’s Mill., 2. p. 237. 
Synonymes. /Hschynémene Pseudacacia Roxb. ; Pseudacacia odorata Manch Meth., 145.; Locust 
Tree, Amer.; the Bastard Acacia; Robinier faux Acacia, Acacia blanc, Carouge des Américains, 
Fr.; gemeine Acacie, or Schotendorn, Ger. 
Derivation. This tree, when first introduced, was supposed to be a species of the Egyptian acacia, 
(Acacia véra), from its prickly branches and pinnated leaves, which resembled those of that tree. It 
was named the locust tree by the-missionaries, who were some of the first collectors, and who fancied 
that it was the tree that supported St. John in the wilderness. It is not, however, a native of any 
other part of the world than North America, The name Carouge, is the French word for carob 
bean, the locust tree of Spain ; which, being also a native of Syria,’is, probably, the true locust 
of the NewTestament. The German name of Schotendorn is composed of schote, a pod, or le- 
gume, and dorn, a thorn. 
Engravings. Lam. Ill. t.666.; N. Du Ham., 2. t.16.; our fig. 305.; and the plate of this species in 
Volume II. 
Spec. Char., §c. Prickles stipular. Branches twiggy. Racemes of flowers loose 
and pendulous; and smooth, as are the legumes. Leaflets ovate. The 
flowers are white and sweet-scented; the roots creeping, and their fibres 
sometimes bearing tubercles. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 261.) A native of North 
America, where it is found from Canada to Carolina. 
Varieties. The plant varying much in its different native localities, and also 
having been long cultivated from seeds in Europe, the varieties are nume- 
rous. Some of those included in the following list appear in our Hortus 
Britannicus, and in Don’s Miller, as species; while some hybrids, such as R. 
hybrida and R. intermédia, might also have been considered as varieties, 
but we have preferred keeping them apart. 
¥ R. P. 2 flore liteo Dumont, 6. p. 140., has the flowers yellow. 
* R. P. 3 inérmis Dec. Prod., ii. p. 261., Dec. Cat. Hort. Monsp., 136.— 
Prickles wanting, or nearly obsolete. Leaflets flat. Plant of free 
growth, in which respect it differs from R. P. umbraculffera. 
ROT 

