ROBINIA 413 



controversy is started as to its value as a timber tree in Britain. There is 

 no doubt about the value of the timber for certain minor purposes it was 

 once, and may be now, largely used for pins (" tree-nails >; ) to fasten timbers 

 together in shipbuilding but it is not produced in sufficient bulk, nor is it 

 of a quality to render it of great value for constructive purposes. 



An extraordinary number of seminal varieties of the locust have been 

 raised in Europe. Between three and four dozen of them are cultivated at 

 Kew, but many are not sufficiently distinct to require mention here. The 

 following may be regarded as the most important : 



Var. ANGUSTIFOLIA (myrtifolia). Leaflets small and narrow, about I in. 

 long, % in. wide. 



Var. AUREA. Leaves golden yellow. 



Var. BELLA-ROSEA. Flowers rose-coloured ; leaflets small ; elegant. 



Var. BESSONIANA LATIFOLIA. Leaflets few (usually five) and large, each 

 2 to 4 ins. long. 



Var. CRISPA. Leaflets twisted and wavy ; branches unarmed. 



Var. DECATSNEANA. A fine strong grower, with large racemes of deep 

 rose-coloured flowers. It appeared in France about 1862. Very handsome. 



Var. FASTIGIATA. A slender columnar tree, narrower even in proportion 

 to its height than the Lombardy poplar. Also known as " pyramidalis." 



Var. HETEROPHYLLA. Leaflets strangely diverse in shape, varying from 



1 to 3 ins. long and from | to f in. wide. 



Var. INERMIS. A mop-headed, unarmed small tree which rarely or never 

 flowers. Very frequent in villa gardens in the London suburbs ; UMBRA- 

 CULIFERA is somewhat similar. There is a variegated form INERMIS 



VARIEGATA. 



Var. MICROPHYLLA. Leaflets ^ in. long, ^ in. wide. 



Var. MONOPHYLLA (unifoliolata). Leaflets reduced in number to one, two, 

 or three, being either the terminal leaflet alone (always much larger than 

 in the type and often 4 ins. long by T^ ins. wide), or accompanied by one or 

 two others about the normal size. This remarkable variety, which flowers 

 freely, is also represented by a fastigiate form (MONOPHYLLA FASTIGIATA), 

 and one with slender semi-pendulous branches (MONOPHYLLA PENDULA). 



Var. REHDERI. A dwarf bushy tree, unarmed, with rather erect branches. 



Var. ROSYNSRIANA. Leaves long and pendulous ; leaflets large. A 

 curiosity. 



Var. TORTUOSA. Branches curiously twisted. Racemes small and thinly 

 set with bloom. 



Var. SEMPERFLORENS. In fine sunny summers this continues to flower 

 more or less throughout the growing" season. 



Var. VARIEGATA has the leaflets mottled with white, 



Loudon mentions a yellow-flowered variety "flore luteo" but if ever 

 such a plant existed, which is doubtful, it has disappeared. Such a variety 

 would be a great acquisition. 



R. VISCOSA, Ventenat. CLAMMY LOCUST. 



(R. glutinosa, Sims^ Bot. Mag., t. 560.) 



A deciduous tree, 30 to 40 ft. high, with a trunk 12 to 18 ins. thick, and 

 often furnished with large burrs ; young branches covered with glands which 

 exude a sticky substance that adheres to the fingers when touched. Leaves 

 pinnate, 3 to 10 ins. long, the main-stalk hairy and viscid like the young twigs. 

 Leaflets eleven to twenty-one, oval or ovate, I to 2 ins. long, \ to in. wide ; 

 dark green above, paler and at first slightly downy beneath, ultimately smooth. 

 Stipules at first \ in. long, becoming longer and spiny with age. Racemes 



2 to i\ ins. long, almost as wide, with a naked stalk half as long. Flowers 



