Cassia. LEGUMINOSiE. 191 



Sandy fields ; common in the southern part of the State, and in the counties along the 

 Hudson, but rare in the interior. August. — This and the preceding species are very sensitive, 

 folding their leaves in a few moments after being handled. 



25. GYMNOCLADUS. Lam. diet. 1. p. 773, and ill. t. 823 ; Endl. gen. 6757. 



COFFEE- TREE. 



[ Named from the Greek, gymnos, naked, and klados, a branch ; from the remarkably naked appearance of the tree in 



winter ; its branches being few and large.] 



Flowers dioecious* Calyx tubular, the limb 5-cleft.; lobes lanceolate, equal. Petals S, oblong, 

 inserted into the summit of the tube. Stamens 10, included, inserted with the petals. 

 Legume oblong, compressed, very large, thick, pulpy inside. — A pretty large tree, destitute 

 of spines or prickles, with rough bark and few stout branches. Leaves unequally bipinnate. 

 Flowers in axillary racemes. Petals white. 



d. 'Gymnocladus Canadensis, Lam. Coffee-tree. 



Lam. I. c. ; Michx. fl. 2. p. 241. t. 51 ; Pursh, fl. 1. p. 304 ; Michx. f. sylv. 1. f. 50 ; 

 DC. prodr. 2. p. 480 ; Torr. ^ Gr. fl. N. Am. 1. p. 398. Guil^ndina dioica, Linn.sp. 1. 

 p. 381. 



Trunk 30 - 50 feet high, and often a foot or more in diameter ; the branches few for the 

 size of the tree, and thick. Bark bitter and acrid. Leaves 1-3 feet long, with 4-7 pinnae, 

 the lowest of which consists of a single pair of leaflets, the others 7-1 3-foliolate : leaflets 

 ovate, acuminate, 1 - 2 inches long, mostly alternate, on partial stalks, nearly smooth. Ra- 

 cemes 3-6 inches long, somewhat compound. Flowers about an inch in length, on pedicels 

 2-4 lines long. Tube of the calyx as long as the lanceolate-acute lobes. Legume 6-10 

 inches long and nearly 2 inches broad, a little curved, and of a brown color. Seeds more than 

 half an inch in diameter. 



On Seneca Lake, near the mouth of Cachong creek, where was one tree eighteen inches 

 in diameter {Prof. J. Hall). At the bottom of a ravine near the borders of Cayuga Lake 

 {Mr. Alexander Thompson). 



According to Michaux, the wood of the Coffiee-tree, from the fineness and closeness of its 

 grain, is fit for cabinet-making ; and its strength renders it proper for building. Like the 

 Locust, it has the valuable property of rapidly converting its sap into perfect wood ; the pro- 

 portion of the latter to the former being greater than in most other trees. It is much esteemed 

 as an ornamental tree in parks and about houses. 



