DECIDUOUS TREES. 391 



ance of foliage and purity of color, it has, when in health, no 

 superior, blending lightness of spray and massiveness of shadows 

 to a degree seldom equalled. The blossoms, too, in abundant 

 racemes in May and June, white and very fragrant, are worthy of 

 the foliage. But a healthy locust tree is rarely seen, especially after 

 the first ten years' growth. Almost everywhere the borer, a pesti- 

 lent worm, chooses the trunk of this tree for his home, and its 

 scantier foliage, dead limbs, and general look of seedy gentility, 

 show too quickly the result. It has also some faults even in health 

 that warn us not to fall too much in love with it. The branches 

 break easily in summer winds, the roots sucker badly, the leaves are 

 late to expand, and the tree even without the attacks of the borer 

 is short-lived. 



The R. p-a bessoniana is a variety of strong growth, which is 

 thornless, and regarded by some nurserymen as the finest of the 

 family of acacias. 



There are several other varieties ; one with light-pink flowers, 

 but with no other marked differences as ornamental trees. 



THE GUMMY ACACIA. Robinia viscosa or glutinosa. This is a 

 smaller species than the preceding, and grows mostly in the south- 

 ern States, but is hardy as far north as Albany, N. Y. It blooms a 

 month later than the pseud-acacia, and the flowers are of a pale pink 

 color, without fragrance. In foliage it closely resembles the common 

 sort. The bark exudes a gummy substance, from which character- 

 istic has arisen its botanical name. The shorter and more com- 

 pact growth of this species, its beautiful foliage and pretty bloom, 

 make it one of the most desirable of the acacias for small places. 



THE ROSE ACACIA, R. hispida rosea, is a trailing straggling 

 shrub rather than tree. The foliage is much like that of the com- 

 mon locust, but its young wood is covered with mossy soft brown 

 prickles. Its flowers, in rosy racemes about four inches long, ap- 

 pear in June, in great abundance, and continue blossoming more 

 or less through the summer. The R. h. macrophylla is a variety 

 with larger leaves, and without prickles on the young wood. There 

 are few more superb bloomers among shrubs than the rose acacia, 



