THE LOCUSTS 



IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERISTICS 



By Samuel B. Detwiler 



BY a curious power of alchemy, the locusts transform 

 the nitrogen of the air into a fertilizer that greatly 



enriches the soil in which they grow. This trans- 

 formation is brought about by bacteria that live on the 

 rootlets and extract nitrogen from the air through compli- 

 cated chemical processes. Many other members of the 

 Pulse family, which contains over seven thousand distinct 

 species of plants 

 throughout the world 

 and about fourteen 

 hundred in North 

 America, have the 

 same property. The 

 plants in this great 

 group range from small 

 herbs to great trees, 

 and some of them, such 

 as peas, beans, clover 

 and alfalfa furnish 

 highly valuable food 

 for human beings and 

 animals. Others sup- 

 ply important vegeta- 

 ble dyes, including log- 

 wood and indigo. 

 Senna and other med- 

 icines are also ob- 

 tained from members 

 of this group. 



All of these plants 

 are called legumes or 

 pod-bearers because 

 their fruits are pods on 

 the order of those 

 borne by the common 

 cultivated varieties of 

 beans and peas. The 

 acacias are well-known 

 pod -bearers, closely 

 related to the locusts. 

 A species of acacia fur- 

 nished the'Shittim 

 wood, or "incorrupti- 

 ble wood," mentioned 

 in the Bible as the 

 material used in con- 

 structing the Ark of 

 the Covenant and the 

 Altar of the Taber- 

 nacle. Italso provided 

 the thorns for the 



88 



THE BLACK LOCUST 



The characters which identify black locust in summer and winter: (1-2) twigs bearing leaves, 

 flowers, fruit pods and seeds, and (3) a twig as it appears in winter, armed with stout prickles. 

 Sections of winter twigs (4 and 5) enlarged, showing several buds in the protected cavity be- 

 tween the spines. 



crown of Christ. The Buddhists and the Hindus regard 

 the wood of the acacia as sacred, and burn it on their 

 altars. Chinese doctors place acacia seeds in a vessel and 

 cover them with ox-gall. After these seeds have been 

 dried in the shade for three months, they are prescribed 

 tp clear the eyesight, keep the hair from turning gray 

 and to cure hemorrhage. The ancient herbalists are con- 

 sidered to have given 

 us the foundations of 

 modern botanical 

 science. These learned 

 men carefully ob- 

 served the marks 

 or signs on various 

 portions of the 

 plant structures, and 

 claimed they could 

 thus determine the. 

 medicinal virtues of 

 plants. The acacia 

 was known to them as 

 a plant identified with 

 the eyes and was as- 

 signed for use in vari- 

 ous eye troubles. 



The black locust 

 (Robinia psendacacia) , 

 better known in 

 Europe as the false 

 acacia because of its 

 resemblance to the 

 true acacias, is a na- 

 tive of North America. 

 It originally grew in 

 the Appalachian 

 Mountains from Penn- 

 sylvania to Georgia, 

 and in eastern Okla- 

 homa and Arkansas. 

 It has been planted 

 throughout the United 

 States, except the ex- 

 treme southern por- 

 tion, and in many 

 places it has escaped 

 from cultivation. It 

 is named Robinia in 

 honor of Jean Robin, 

 Director of the Garden 

 of the Louvre, who 

 introduced it into 



