Gleditschia 



!5n 



I. Pods elongated, many-seeded, indehiscent. 



* Leaflets, eight to twelve, prominently reticulate beneath. 



(a) Branchlets ptibescent. 



i. Gleditschia Delavayi, Franchet. South-western China. Seep. 15 13. 



Leaflets ovate-oblong, 2 to 2\ in. long, \ to \\ in. wide, almost entire in 

 margin. Pod, 16 to 20 in. long, flattened, twisted, not dotted with pits. 



(b) Branchlets glabrous. 



2. Gleditschia sinensis, Lamarck. North China. Seep. 15 13. 



Leaflets ovate-lanceolate, 1^ to 2\ in. long, f to 1 in. wide, crenulate. Pod, 

 6 to 10 in. long, convex on both surfaces, dotted with minute pits. 



3. Gleditschia macracantha, Desfontaines. Central China. Seep. 15 14. 



Leaflets ovate-oblong, 2 to 3 in. long, 1 to i| in. wide, crenulate. Pod, 6 to 

 1 2 in. long, slightly convex on both surfaces, dotted with minute pits. 



** Leaflets twelve to twenty-eight, not prominently reticulate beneath. 

 Branchlets glabrous} Pods flattened, averaging 12 in. long, not dotted with pits. 



4. Gleditschia triacanthos, Linnaeus. North America. See p. 1517. . 



Leaf-rachis pubescent on all sides. Leaflets lanceolate, 1 to i| in. long, to 

 f in. wide, with dense conspicuous pubescence on the midrib beneath. 



5. Gleditschia caspica, Desfontaines. South-west coast of the Caspian Sea. See 



p. 1512. 

 Leaf-rachis pubescent only on the outer edge of the groove. Leaflets 

 narrowly elliptical or lanceolate, i to i| in. long, | to f in. wide; glandular on 

 the midrib above ; shining and quite glabrous beneath. Young branchlets 

 green. 



6. Gleditschia japonica, Miquel. Japan, Manchuria, North China. See p. 15 16. 



Leaf-rachis as in G. caspica. Leaflets similar, but narrower and not 

 glandular on the midrib above. Young branchlets purplish. 



II. Pods short, one- to two-seeded, dehiscent. 



7. Gleditschia aqualica, Marshall. North America. Seep. 1520. 



Leaf-rachis pubescent only on the outer edge of the groove. Leaflets, ten to 

 twenty, lanceolate, about 1 in. long and \ in. wide, distinguishable from the 

 other species by their small size, and by being quite glabrous on both surfaces 

 and only slightly ciliate on the margin. Young branchlets glabrous. 



In addition to the species enumerated in the key, mention may be made here of 

 a peculiar Gleditschia, growing in the nursery of Messrs. Simon-Louis at Plantieres, 

 which has been identified by Schneider, Laubholzkunde, ii. 10(1907), with Gleditschia 

 ferox, Desfontaines, Hist. Arb. ii. 247 (1809). This tree has remarkably stout, 

 compressed, reddish brown spines, which attain on the trunk 10 in. in length, with 

 branches 3 to 5 in. long; on the branchlets, the spines are about \\ in. long, bearing 

 two short lateral opposite smaller spines. The foliage on the specimen which I 

 have seen, is mostly bipinnate, with six to ten pinnae, each bearing twenty or more 



' The branchlets of G. triacanthos are usually pubescent close to the base ; but are glabrous elsewhere. 

 VI 2 A 



