CHAP. XLI. LEGUMINA^CEiE. GYMNo'cLADUS. 657 



Proi^erties and Uses. The wood is very hard and compact; it is also 

 strong and tough, and of a fine rose colour. In America, it is used both in 

 cabinet-making and carpentry, and, like the wood of the robinia, it has the 

 remarkable property of rapidly converting its sap-wood into heart-wood ; so 

 that a trunk 6 in. in diameter has not more than six lines of sap-wood, and 

 may, consequently, be almost entirely employed for useful purposes. The 

 seeds were, at one time, roasted and ground as a substitute for coffee in 

 Kentucky and Tennessee; but their use in this way has been long since dis- 

 continued. The pods, preserved like those of the tamarind (to which this 

 genus is nearly allied), are said to be wholesome, and slightly aperient. The 

 live bark is extremely bitter ; so that a morsel, no bigger than a grain of 

 maize, chewed for some time, causes a violent irritation in the throat. In 

 Britain, the only use of the tree is for ornamental purposes ; and, considered 

 as an object of curiosity and beauty, no collection ought to be without it. 



Soli, Situation, Propagation, Sfc. A rich, deep, free soil is essential to the 

 thriving of this tree ; and such a soil is never met with naturally in exposed 

 situations. The tree is generally propagated by imported seeds; but it will 

 grow freely from cuttings of the roots, care being taken in planting to keep 

 that end upwards which is naturally so. 



statistics. Gynin6cladus canadensis in England. In the environs of London, at Whitton, 87 years 

 planted, and 60 ft. high ; at Syon, 54 ft. high, diameter of the trunk 18 in. and of the head 39 ft. (see 

 our plate of this tree in Vol. II.) ; in the Mile End Nursery, So ft. ; at Kenwood, 25 years planted, and 

 20 ft. h\gh.—Sout/i of London. In Kent, at Cobham Hall, 2.T years planted, and 20 ft. high. In Surrey, 

 at St. Anne's Hill, 30 years planted, and 4,5 ft. high; at Claremont, 45 ft. high, the diameter of the 

 trunk 18 in., and of the head Soft.; at Walton, 4'2 years planted, and 50 ft. high, diameter of the 

 trunk 18 in, and of the head 33 ft. ; at Farnham Castle, 45 years planted, and 25 ft. high, the diameter 

 of the trunk 12 in., in poor soil on chalk.— Nort/i of London. In Cheshire, at Kmmel Park, 5 years 

 planted, and 5 ft. high. In Hertfordshire, at Cheshunt, 7 years planted, and 12 ft. high. In Oxlord- 

 shire, in the Oxford Botanic Garden, 40 years planted, and 35 ft. high, the diameter of the trunk 1ft. 

 2 in., and of the head 15 ft In Worcestershire, at Croorae, 40 years planted, and 60 ft. high, diameter 

 of the trunk 18 in., and of the head 30 ft 



Gyynnocladus canadensis in Scotland. In the Edinburgh Botanic Garden, 15 ft. high ; in Law- 

 son's Nursery, 10 years planted, and 6 ft high; in the Glasgow Botanic Garden, 12 years planted, 

 and 13 ft high ; in the Perth Nursery, 12 ft. high. 



GymnOcladus canadensis in Ireland. In the Glasnevin Botanic Garden, 25 years planted, and 24 ft. 

 high, diameter of the trunk 6 in., and of the head 7 ft. ; at Terenure, 20 years planted, and 15 ft. high ; 

 in the CuUenswood Nursery, 10 years planted, and 15 ft. high. 



Gytnnucladus canadensis in Foreign Countries. In France, at Pans, in the Jardm des Plantes, 60 

 years planted, and 55 ft high, the diameter of the trunk 20 in., and of the head 40ft ; at Sceaux, 18 

 years planted, and 30 ft high ; in the Botanic Garden at Toulon, 20 years planted, and 25 ft. high ; m 

 the Botanic Garden at Metz, 32 years planted, and 40ft. h.gh; at Colombier, near Metz, 60 years 

 planted, and 65 ft. high. In Austria, at Vienna, 13 years planted, and 30 tt high. In Prussia, at 

 Berlin, at Sans Souci, 30 years planted, and 30 ft high ; in the Pfauen Insel, 8 years planted, and 

 22 ft. high. In Hanover, in the Botanic Garden at Gottingen, 25 years planted, and 30 ft. high. In 

 Italy, at Monza, 29 years planted, and 40 ft high. 



Commercial Statistics. Plants in the London nurseries are 2^. Qd. each ; at 

 BoUwyller, 1 franc and 50 cents ; and at New York, 50 cents. 



Genus XXII. 



CE'RCIS L. The Judas Tree. Lin. Sj/st. Decandria Monog/nia. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 510. ; Lam. 111., t. 328. ; Giert. Fruct, t. 144. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 518. ; 



Don's Mill., 2. p. 463. 

 Synonymes. .Siliquastrum Tourn. Inst., t.414. ; Mccnc/i Meth. ; Gainier Fr. ; Judasbaum, Ger. 

 Derivation. From kcrkis, a shuttlecock, the name given by Theophrastus to this tree. 



Description, ^'c. Leaves simple, heart-shaped at the base, many-nerved, 

 entire, protruded after the flowers ; these borne in groups, each on a pedicel 

 proceeding directly from the trunk or branches. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 31S.) 

 Deciduous trees of the third rank, or shrubs, natives of Europe, or North 

 America. 



^ 1. C -Siliqua'strum L. The common Judas Tree. 



Identification. Lin. Sp., 534. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 518. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 463. 



Synonytnes. Siliquaslrum orbiculatum Mavich Meth. ; Love Tree; Gainier comniun, Arbrede Jud^e, 



Fr. ; Arbol d' Amor, Span. ; Judasbaum, Go: 

 F.ngravings. N. Du Ham., t. 7. ; Bot Mag., t. 1138. ; Mill. Icon., 253. ; and the plates of this species 



in Vol. II. 



Y V 2 



