596 GLEDITSCHIA 



not so large in this country as on trees grown on the Continent. At Vienna 

 I have seen them as much as i\ ins. long, by over I in. wide. It is much 

 confused with, and usually grown as G. sinensis, a confusion which apparently 

 existed in London's time. According to Henry the true G. SINENSIS, Lamarck, 

 is not in cultivation in this country. It is distinguished from G. caspica by 

 never apparently having more than fourteen leaflets to each simply pinnate 

 leaf. It is found on the mountains near Pekin, as a tree 40 ft. high. Cultivated 

 on the Continent in Paris, Montpellier, Florence, etc. 



Closely allied to G. sinensis is G. MACRANTHA, Desfontaines. It does not 

 appear to be in cultivation in England. In the Jardin des Plantes at Paris, 

 its largest leaflets are 3 ins. long by \\ ins. wide, usually, however, much 

 smaller. As in G. sinensis, the leaves of adult trees rarely carry more than 

 twelve leaflets. 



G. JAPONICA, Miguel. JAPANESE LOCUST. 



A tree 60 to 70 ft. high, the trunk and branches very formidably armed 

 with branched spines ; young shoots on plants at Kew dark purplish brown, 

 smooth and shining. Leaves simply or doubly pinnate, 8 to 12 ins. long, 

 each leaf or leaf-section carrying fourteen to twenty-four leaflets. Leaflets 

 ovate to lanceolate, often unequal at each side the midrib, blunt to pointed 

 at the apex, margins entire ; main-stalk, midrib, and stalk of leaflets downy. 

 In Japanese fruit-bearing specimens the leaflets are | to i^ ins. long, 

 to ^ in. wide, but in small cultivated trees they are only ^ to f in. long. 

 Pod 8 to 10 ins. long, I to ij ins. wide ; scimitar-shaped, ultimately twisted. 



Native of Japan ; introduced to Kew in 1894, where young trees raised 

 from seed supplied by Boehmer are quite hardy, although slow-growing. 

 In their present state (12 ft. high), the small leaflets give them a very different 

 aspect to native specimens, but they are unsurpassed among hardy trees 

 in their fern-like elegance. The species appears to be allied to G. caspica, 

 under which by one authority it has been placed. The pulp in the pods, 

 as in G. sinensis, is saponaceous, and is used by the Japanese for washing 

 cloth. 



G. TRIACANTHOS, Linn&US. HONEY LOCUST. 



A tree reaching in a wild state 140 ft. in height, with a trunk up to 5 or 6 ft. 

 in diameter, both it and the branches more or less armed with stout, sharp 

 spines 3 to 12 ins. long, and branched. Young shoots slightly downy at 

 the base only ; spines when present on them simple or three-forked. Leaves 

 4 to 8 ins. long, either simply or doubly pinnate, the latter confined to vigorous 

 leading shoots ; the leaves 'of the short, flowering twigs are invariably simply 

 pinnate. Leaflets on each pinnate leaf (or section of bipinnate one) fourteen 

 to thirty-two ; \ to \\ ins. long, f$ to J- in. wide ; oblong-lanceolate, mostly 

 rounded at the apex, wavy or shallowly toothed at the margin, glossy dark 

 green ; both surfaces at first downy. Male flowers green, crowded on downy, 

 often clustered racemes about 2 ins. long ; female racemes few-flowered. 

 Fruit more or less scimitar-shaped, I to i^ ft. long, I to i| ins. wide, dark 

 shining brown. 



Native of Central N. America ; introduced in 1700. The honey locust is 

 the best of the genus in this country, and deserves to be more commonly 

 planted than it is, not only for its interest, but for the beautiful fern-like foliage, 

 which turns a clear bright yellow in autumn. The spines are not so formid- 

 ably developed in this country as on the Continent, nor do they develop 

 in woods or shady spots like they do in places fully exposed. It only 

 occasionally bears fruit with us, never with the freedom and regularity 

 seen in more sunny climates like the south of France. A tree well- laden 



