2o8 TREES GROWING IN RICH SOIL. 



state. It seems, however, to have a natural taste for luxury. 

 From the mountains of Carolina, where it is particularly charm- 

 ing, it has escaped, and it is seen in cultivation throughout the 

 Middle and Eastern States and in Canada. Its legumes are 

 linear-lanceolate, and they are slightly tipped with a vestige of 

 the style. 



ROSE ACACIA. BRISTLY LOCUST. IIOSS LOCUST. 



(Plate CX.) 



Robinia hispida. 



FAMILY SHAPE HEIGHT RANGE TIME OF BLOOM 



Pea. Slender^ spreading. yio/eet. Virginia southward. June. 



Bark of branches: Purplish. Leaves: compound; alternate; with leaf -stalks 

 that are hollowed at the base and which cover the buds of the succeeding 

 year; odd-pinnate, with broad leaflets, tipped with long bristles. Flowers: 

 large; showy; deep rose colour and growing in rather loose racemes. Corolla: 

 papilionaceous ; the standard large. Legumes: linear, and covered with bristles. 



A glance at this lovely plant is enough to cause it to be asso- 

 ciated with the family to which it belongs, although it is the 

 one that is shrubby in its habit of growth. When in bloom it 

 is a soft, brilliant sight, and the papilionaceous corolla 

 reminds us strongly of many of our wild flowers. 



" Is it a tree," a little child asked with amazement, " or is it 

 a big flower ? " 



By plucking one of its leaves it is seen that it takes the same 

 precocious care of its offspring as is customary with other 

 members of the genus. The base of the long stalk is hollow, 

 and nestling cosily within its centre is the young bud of the 

 next season. Here it is as completely sheltered and hidden 

 away from harm as though a little house were built about it. 

 Throughout the northern states we are now accustomed to 

 seeing the shrub, as it is widely cultivated for ornament. 



