MASSACHUSETTS FOREST TREES 



LOCUST (Robima pseudacacia L.) 



A LTHOUGH the Locust is not native to the State, 

 * it has become so thoroughly naturalized that it is 

 as common as many of the indigenous species. It 

 prefers rich ground, yet it is found in various soils 

 and situations. 



When young it is a rapid-growing tree, often attain- 

 ing a height of twenty feet in half as many years. 

 After that period its increase is much slower. Here 

 it is usually a small tree, from twenty-five to fifty 

 feet in height and from eight inches to two feet in 

 diameter. The trunk is erect or sometimes oblique 

 and irregular. The branches are small and brittle and 

 form a narrow, oblong head. 



The bark on the old trunk is dark gray, thick and 

 deeply and irregularly furrowed. The young branches 

 are armed with spines which disappear as the tree 

 ages. 



The leaves are pinnately compound and composed 

 of seven to twenty-one leaflets. The individual leaflets 

 are small, about an inch or an inch and a quarter in 

 length and oval in outline. 



The flowers, which appear in early June after the 

 leaves unfold, are borne in loose racemes, four to five 

 inches in length. They are creamy -white, showy, 

 fragrant and much frequented by bees. 



The fruit is a pod which is smooth, flat, dark brown 

 and about three inches in length. 



The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard, strong and 

 very durable when in contact with the soil. It is 

 employed for shipbuilding, for fence-posts, in turnery 

 and for fuel. 



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