ROB 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTfONARY. 



ROB 



477 



for its duration. Most of the houses which were built at 

 Boston in New England, on the first settling of the English 

 there, were constructed of this timber. The wood when 

 green is of a soft texture, but becomes very hard when dry : 

 it is as durable as the best white Oak, and esteemed prefer- 

 able for axle-trees of carriages, trenails for ships, and many 

 other mechanical purposes : and it makes excellent fuel. 

 The shade of this tree is less injurious to grass than that of 

 most others. The leaves are said to afford wholesome food 

 for cattle. It has been successfully employed for ship-build- 

 ing in Virginia, and proved far superior to American Oak, 

 Elm, Ash, &c. for that purpose; and posts of it, made for rail 

 fencings, stand wet and dry next the ground better than any 

 other in common use ; almost as well as posts of the Swamp 

 Cedar. There are several varieties of this species, one of 

 which has no thorns on the branches. In the English nur- 

 series it is generally propagated by suckers from the roots 

 of old trees ; or by cuttings of some of the young shoots, 

 planting them upon a gentle hot-bed. But these are not 

 so valuable as plants raised from seeds, because they do not 

 make great progress, and are very subject to send forth 

 many suckers. Sow the seeds on a bed of light earth, at the 

 end of March or beginning of April. If the bed be well ex- 

 posed to the sun, the plants will appear in five or six weeks, 

 and will require no further care than to keep them clear 

 from weeds. In the following spring, about the end of March 

 transplant them into a nursery, in rows three feet distant, 

 and a foot and half asunder in the rows. After two years 

 more, they will be fit to plant where they are designed to 

 grow ; for as they send forth long tough roots, if they stand 

 long unremoved, the roots will be out off when they are trans- 

 planted, which sometimes occasions their miscarrying. This 

 tree will grow well upon almost any soil, but best in such as 

 is light and sandy. Whilst young and well furnished with 

 leaves, it makes an agreeable appearance; but when old, the 

 branches being frequently broken by winds, it is rendered 

 unsightly, especially in an exposed situation. 



2. Robinia Sepium ; Hedge Robinia. Unarmed : pe- 

 duncles racemed, the partial ones two-flowered ; leaves un- 

 equally pinnate; pinnas ovate, acuminate. This is a thorn- 

 less tree, growing to the height of thirty feet, very much 

 resembling the preceding in habit, and dividing into round 

 almost upright very long branches; clusters rather drooping, 

 of numerous purple flowers. -Native of the banks of rivers, 

 in the recesses of mountains of the West Indies, flowering in 

 March and April. This, with the third, fifth, tenth, eleventh, and 

 fifteenth species, being tender, cannot be preserved in Eng- 

 land, without being placed in a stove in winter. Thov are 

 propagated by seeds procured from the countries where they 

 grow naturally. Sow them in small pots filled with earth 

 from the kitchen-garden, and plunged into a hot-bed of tan- 

 ners' bark. The plants will appear in six weeks or two 

 months. When they are strong enough to transplant, shake 

 them out of the pots, and put each plant into a small pot 

 filled with the same earth, plunging them into a tan-bed, and 

 shading them till they have taken new root, and then treating 

 them as other tender plants. Whilst the plants are young, 

 they are more tender than afterwards ; therefore it will be 



iper to keep them in the tan-bed for two or three years ; 



t when they have obtained strength, they may be kept in a 

 dry-stove of a temperate heat in winter, and in summer they 

 may be exposed to the open air in a sheltered situation. 

 Some of them may be propagated by cuttings. 



3. Robinia Violacea ; Ash-leaved Rohinia. Racemes 

 with pedicels two-flowered ; leaves unequally pinnate ; stem 

 unarmed. This is an upright thomless tree, growing to the 



height of twelve feet. The flowers have the smell and 

 colour of Violets. Found at Carthagena. For its propa- 

 gation and culture, see the preceding species. 



4. Robinia Hispida ; Rose Acacia or Hairy Robinia. Ra- 

 cemes axillary ; leaves unequally pinnate ; stem unarmed ; 

 branches, calix, and flower-stalks, hispid. This tree is of 

 low growth in England, though in its native country, Caro- 

 lina, it grows twenty feet high : in the former country, the 

 branches spread out near the ground, and produce their 

 flowers while very young. The flowers are of a deep rose 

 colour, but have no scent, though they make a fine appear- 

 ance.. It does not produce its seeds in Great Britain. 

 This p'lant is propagated by cutting off part of the roots, and 

 placing them upon a gentle hot-bed, where they will put out 

 fibres and shoots. It requires a sheltered situation and a 

 light moist soil. Though the ordinary winters of this coun- 

 try never injure it, yet it is liable in exposed places to be 

 killed by severe seasons. It may be also increased by layers, 

 and by grafting ; is of a ready growth, disposed to flower 

 even while young ; and not nice as to soil and situation. Its 

 large beautiful branches render it one of the most valuable 

 shrubs we have for ornamental plantations. 



5. Robinia Mitis. Racemes with pedicels in threes; 

 leaves unequally pinnate; stem unarmed. A tree of lofty 

 growth : calix purple ; petals white ; legume ovate, pointed, 

 thick and woody. Native of the East Indies, China, and 

 Cochin-china. 



6. Robinia Caragana; Siberian Pea Tree. Peduncles sim- 

 ple, very many ; leaves abruptly pinnate, four or five paired ; 

 petioles unarmed : legumes cylindrical. Trunk arboreous, 

 commonly branched from the bottom, slender, with a smooth 

 shining coriaceous bark. Flowers numerous, large, yellow. 

 The wood is hard, compact, very tough, yellow on the out- 

 side, within waved, and striped with bay and red. The 

 leaves are good fodder for cattle ; and it is suggested, that 

 they contain a blue colouring matter like Indigo. The bark 

 is very tough, and fit for tyeing; the twigs may also be used 

 as withes, and the seeds are good for poultry. It flowers in 

 April and May. Native of Siberia. This, with the seventh, 

 eighth, ninth, twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth species, are 

 propagated from seeds sown in a shady situation in autumn, 

 and the plants will come up in the following spring. When, 

 they appear, they will require no other care but to keep 

 them clean from weeds till autumn ; when, if they have 

 made any progress, they should be planted on a north bor- 

 der, at about six inches' distance, where they may grow two 

 years, and then be planted out where they are to remain, 

 which should be in a cool moist soil, not much exposed to 

 the sun. They may also be increased by the roots, bv 

 layers, and by grafting. 



7. Robinia Spiriosa; Thorny Robinia. Peduncles simple, 

 subsolitary; leaves abruptly pinnate, many-paired ; petioles 

 spinescent; legumes cylindrical. This resembles the preced- 

 ing, from which it is distinguished by its stiff or thorny sti- 

 pules. The trunk is scarcely an inch and half in diameter, 

 with branches often a fathom in length, subdivided, twisted, 

 and diffused, so as to form a hemispherical head full of 

 branches and thorns. Being covered with yellow flowers 

 during the summer, it appears very beautiful. Wood bay- 

 coloured within, on the outside yellow, and very hard. On 

 account of the length and toughness of the branches, and its 

 large stout thorns, this shrub is admirably adapted to form 

 impenetrable hedges. It is a native of Siberia, and also of 

 China; where, about Pekin,they stick their bushes in clay on 

 the tops of their walls, to prevent persons from climbin- or 

 looking over them. See the preceding species. 



