34 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



109. GLEDITSCHIA MONOSPERMA, WALT.* 

 WATER LOCUST. 



Ger., Einsarniger Honigdorn ; Fr., Fevier Monosperme ; Sp., Algorrobo 



Aquatico* 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS. Leaves irregularly bicompound, with 6-9 pairs of leaflets 

 or 3-4 pairs of pinnee, the longest nearest the apex of the leaf; leaflets ovate- 

 oblong, about 1 in. in length, obtuse or rounded at apex, slightly crenate or entire 

 below, shining green above, paler beneath; thorns usually 3-5 in. iu length, simple 

 or sending out 1 or 2 lateral thorns, often compressed. Flowers (May or June) as 

 described for the genus, racemes slender, 3-4 in. long, with purple puberulous pe- 

 duncles; ovary long-stipitate, glabrous. Fruit a bright chocolate-brown, obliquely 

 ovate, long-stalked pod, 1 in. or less in width and 1-2 in. in length, with stout 

 pointed apex, pulpless, growing in loose racemes and containing usually each a 

 single seed about in. or less across, with orange-brown testa and thick albumen. 



(The specific name is from the Greek >uoVo, solitary, and drts^pjua, seed.) 



A tree of medium size, rarely over 60 ft. (18 m.) in hight, or 2 ft. 

 (0.60m.) in diameter of trunk, with stout spreading branches which form a 

 rather irregular top. The bark of trunk is of a greyish-brown color, 

 thin and quite smooth, only slightly checking with age and flaking off 

 in small scales. Its fruit ripens in late summer and falls in autumn. 



HABITAT. Along the coast from South Carolina southward to Florida 

 and westward through the Gulf States into Texas; also up the bottom- 

 lauds of the Mississippi Valley to Southern Illinois and Indiana, most 

 abundant west of the Mississippi River and generally rare to the east- 

 ward. It grows in moist rich low-lands and in river-swamps subject to 

 occasional inundation. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood very heavy, hard and strong, taking a 

 smooth polish ; of a rich reddish-brown color and with abundant light 

 yellow sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.7342; Percentage of Ash, 0.73; 

 Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.7288; Coefficient of Elasticity, 

 116991; Modulus of Rupture, 1027 ; Resistance in Longitudinal Pres- 

 sure, 584 ; Resistance to Indentation, 276 ; Weight of a Cubic Foot in 

 Pounds, 45.76. 



USES. Little use is made of this tree, though the properties of its 

 wood would seem to make it valuable where a strong and not too large 

 timber is required. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES. So far as we can ascertain none have been 

 discovered of this species. 



ORDER CORNAOEJE : DOGWOOD FAMILY. 



Leaves opposite (except in one species), simple, mostly entire. Flowers in cymes, 

 often involucrate, polypetalous (exceptionally apetalous), 4-numerous ; calyx-tube 

 adherent to the ovary, its limb minute ; petals valvate in the bud, oblong, sessile, 



* Gleditschia aquatica^ Marsh. 



