42 
Robinia Pseudacacia is surpassed in beauty by few American trees. 
SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
LEGUMINOS. 
In no other are lightness 
and grace of foliage combined with such massiveness of trunk and spread of branches.’ Few trees 
produce more abundant, beautiful, or fragrant flowers, or afford more pleasing contrasts of color in 
the light green of the youngest leaves with the darker hues of those of the earlier part of the season, 
and between the different shades of color of the upper and lower surfaces of the leaflets as they rise 
and fall with the slightest breath of alr.” 
ized by its short unarmed branches which form a compact spherical 
head. It is grafted either on tall stems of the common Robinia or 
on its own roots, and, although it does not produce flowers, is one 
of the most popular trees in the countries of central and northern 
Europe, where it is much used to decorate city and villa gardens 
and to shade highways, for which purpose its low wide-spreading 
head and dense foliage well adapt it. It is also used as a forage 
plant. (André, Rev. Hort. 1863, 347.) 
Var. crispa, De Candolle, Prodr. ii. 261.— Verlot, Rev. Hort. 
1873, 155. 
A form in which the margins of the leaflets, especially those on 
the upper branches, are more or less undulate or crinkled. 
Var. tortuosa, De Candolle, U7. c.— Loudon, Arb. Brit. ii. 609. — 
Koch, Dendr. i. 57. — Verlot, l. c. 
A form distinguished by the abnormal tortuous growth of the 
branches. 
Var. pyramidalis, Hort. (R. stricta, Hort. R. fastigiata, Hort.) 
A variety with upright branches forming a narrow pyramidal 
head which appeared in 1839 in the nursery of Monsieur A. Leroy 
at Angers. (Verlot, J. c.) 
Var. Decaisneana, Carriére, Rev. Hort. 1863, 151, t. — Fl. des 
Serres, xix. t. 2027. — Lemaire, Jil. Hort. xii. t. 427. — Verlot, J. ¢. 
A vigorous tree distinguished by its rose-colored flowers, which 
appeared in the nursery of Monsieur Villevelle at Manosque in 
France, where it flowered for the first time in 1862. 
Var. monophylla, Hort. 
A form in which the leaves are sometimes reduced to a single 
broad leaflet, or more often to two or three. This variety was 
obtained about 1855 by a French nurseryman, Monsieur Deniaux. 
(Verlot, J. c.) 
Other distinct varieties sometimes found in gardens are var. 
macrophylla (Loddiges, Cat. 1830.— Loudon, 1. c.) ; var. microphylla 
(Loddiges, J. c. — Loudon, J. c.) ; var. pendula, Hort. ; var. dissecta, 
Hort. ; and var. latisiliqua, Hort., characterized by its large legumes. 
(Koch, J. c. — Verlot, J. c.). 
1 The brittleness of its branches is the only serious drawback to 
the Locust as an ornamental tree where it escapes the ravages of 
insects. In exposed situations they are often broken by the wind 
and the symmetry of the tree is injured. 
garden, but is by no means qualified to adorn an exposed country. 
“Tt may ornament a 
It depends on its beauty rather than on its grandeur, which is a 
quality more liable to injury.” (Gilpin, Forest Scenery, ed. 2, i. 
72.) 
The Locust is less injurious than many other trees to plants 
growing under the shade of its branches, owing to the open char- 
acter of the foliage and the fact that the leaflets fold together in 
wet weather and so allow the rain quickly to reach the ground 
beneath. (See Phillips, Sylva Flor. i. 47.) 
? Robinia Pseudacacia continues to grow until the beginning of 
autumn, and the ends of the branches in summer are covered with 
young light yellow-green leaves which stand out conspicuously 
against the dark background of the older foliage. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 
Pruate CXII. 
1. A flowering branch, natural size. 
2. Diagram of a flower. 
RosinrA PSEUDACACIA. 
. Front view of a flower, natural size. 
. Vertical section of a pistil, enlarged. 
3 
4. A staminal tube, enlarged. 
5 
6 
. An ovule, much magnified. 
Puate CXIII. 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
Rosita PsEUDACACIA. 
. A legume with one of the valves removed, natural size. 
. An embryo, enlarged. 
1 
2 
3. Vertical section of a seed, enlarged. 
4 
5 
. A portion of a branch, the petiole removed and the bud covering laid 
open, showing the superposed naked buds, with a portion of a 
branchlet developed from a supra-axillary bud, enlarged. 
6. A winter branchlet, natural size. 
