Robinia viscosa, 
THE VISCOUS-BARKED ROBINIA. 
Synonymes. 
Robinia viscosa, 
Robinia glutinosa, 
Robinia montana, 
Acacia visqueuse, 
Klebrige Acacie, 
Robinia rosa, Robinia di fior rosso, 
Rose-flowering Locust, 
' Michaux, North American Sylva. 
De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Du Hamel, Traite des Arbres et Arbustes. 
Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum. 
Torrey and Gray, Flora of North America. 
Curtis, London Botanical Magazine. 
Bartram, Travels. 
France. 
Germany. 
Italy. 
Britain and Anglo-America. 
Derivation. The specific name, viscosa, is derived from the Latin viscus, properly a species of shrub, which yields a giuti 
nous substance, called bird-lime, and has reference to the viscid or clammy nature of the bark of this tree. 
Engravings. Michaux, North American Sylva, pi. 77; Loudon, Arboretum Britannicum, ii., figure 306, et v., pi. 87, 
and the figures below. 
Specific Characters. Branches and legumes glandular and clammy. Racemes crowded, erect. Bracteas 
concave, deciduous, each ending in a long bristle. The three lower teeth of the calyx acuminated 
Roots creeping. De Candolle, Prodromus. 
Description. 
ft HE Robinia viscosa usu- 
% h H SH ally grows to a height of 
W\ u |B thirty or forty feet, with 
Ifc<^s5al a diameter of six to 
twelve inches. The bark, particularly of young 
shoots, is of a dull red, and is covered with a 
viscid substance, which, when touched, adheres 
to the fingers. In every other respect, this tree 
strongly resembles the preceding species. The 
branches are armed with spines, which, how- 
ever, are smaller and less numerous. The 
foliage is thicker, and of a dusky green. The 
leaves are five or six inches long, and are com- 
posed of opposite leaflets, with a terminal odd 
one. The leaflets are about an inch in length, 
oval, nearly sessile, smooth, and of a fine tex- 
ture. The flowers usually appear in June and 
July, but in some seasons, they put forth a sec- 
ond time, both in England and in the United 
States. They occur in numerous, open bunches, four or five inches long, and 
are of a beautiful rose-colour, mixed with white, but are destitute of fragrance. 
The seeds, which are small, are contained in hairy pods, two or three inches 
long, and about half of an inch broad. 
Geography and History. In its natural habitat, this species appears to be 
chiefly confined to the Alleghanies, in the western parts of Georgia and the Car- 
olinas, although it is found on the banks of the rivers in these states, particularly 
on the Savannah. It was introduced into Britain in 1797, and is much culti- 
' vated for ornament in various parts of Europe. 
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