XXV. LEGUMINA^CEiE : IIOBi'nIA. 233 



Genus XII. 



x'ilLf 



ROBVSIA Lin. The Robima, or Locust Tree. Lin. Syst. Diadelphia 



Decandria. 



Identification. Dec. Mem. Leg., 6. ; Prod., 2. p. 2(11. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 237. 



Synonymes. Pseudac&cia Tourn. Inst. t. 417., Mcench Jileth. 14.").; Kobinier, Fr.; Hobinie, Ger. 



Dcrivatiun. Named in honour of Jcaii Rubin, a French botanist, once herbalist to Henry IV. of 

 France, author o( Histoire des Plnntcs. r2mo, Paris, 1620; printed with the second edition of 

 Lonicer's History of Plants. His son Vespasian was sub-demonstrator at the Jardin des Plantes 

 in Paris, and was the first person who cultivated the RoWn/a Pseud-.(4ciicia in Europe. 



Gen. Char. Calyx 5-toothed, lanceolate, 2 upper ones shorter and approxi- 

 mate. Corolla papilionaceous. Vexillum large. Keel obtuse. Stamens dia- 

 delphoiis, deciduous. Ovaries 16 20-ovulate. Style bearded in front. 

 Legume compressed, almost sessile, many-seeded, with the valves thin and 

 flat, margined at the seminiferous suture. (^Don's Mill.) 



Leaves compound, unequally pinnate, alternate, deciduous ; leaflets 

 generally ovate or obovate, petiolate. Flotuers vvhite or rose-coloured, in 

 axillary usually nodding racemes. Trees, deciduous, natives of North Ame- 

 rica, where one of the species is highly valued for its timber. 



The species are prized, partly for their use, but chiefly for their beauty. 

 They are readily propagated by seeds, large truncheons of the stem and 

 branches, cuttings of the roots, or by grafting; and they will grow in any soil 

 that is not too wet. Their roots are creeping, and their branches very brittle : 

 they grow rapidly, but are generally not of long duration. Their rapid growth 

 is a property that they have in common with all trees and plants the principal 

 roots of which extend themselves close under the surface ; because there the 

 soil is always richest : but the same cause that produces this rapidity at first 

 occasions the tree to grow slowly afterwards, unless the roots are allowed 

 I ample space on every side ; since, as they never penetrate deep, they soon 

 exhaust all the soil within their reach. They are, therefore, highly objec- 

 tionable among ornamental shrubs, or in flower borders. For this reason, 

 also, such trees are objectionable as hedgerow trees, or as scattered groups in 

 arable lands ; their roots pi-oving a serious impediment to the plough, and the 

 suckers thrown up by them choking the corn crops. Roots, on the other 

 hand, which penetrate perpendicularly as well as horizontally, belong to more 

 slowly, but more steadily, growing trees, which always attain a larger size in 

 proportion to the extent of ground they occupy. 



2 1. R. Pseu^d-JcaYia Lin. The common Robinia, or False Acacia. 



Identification. Lin. .Sp., 104.3. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 201. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 237. 



Synonymes. ^schyn6raene Pseudacacia /Joj6. ; Pseudacacia odorata Mcencli Meth. 14.5.; Locust 

 Tree, Ainer. ; the Bastard Acacia ; Robinier faux Acacia, Acacia blanc, Carouge des Americains, 

 Fr. ; gemeine .\cacie, Schotendorn, Ger. 



Derivation. This tree, when first introduced, was supposed to be a species of the Egyptian acacia, 

 (.Acacia vera), from its prickly branches and pinnated leaves, which resembled those of that tree. 

 It was named the locust tree' by the missionaries, who fancied that it was the tree that supported 

 St. John in the wilderness. It is not, however, a native of any other part of the world than North 

 America. The name Carouge is the French word for carob bean, the locust tree of Spain ; which, 

 being also a native of Syria, is, probably, the true locust of the New Testament. The German 

 name of Schotendorn is composed of sc/iote, a pod, or legume, and dorn, a thorn. 



Engravings. Lam. 111., t. 66(i. ; N. Du Ham., 2. t. 16.; the plate of this species in Arb. Brit., 

 1st edit., vol. V. ; and our fig. 382. 



Spec. Char., Sj-c. Prickles stipular. Branches twiggy. Racemes of flowers 

 loose and pendulous ; and smooth, as are the legumes. Leaflets ovate. 

 The flowers are white and sweet-scented ; the roots creeping, and their 

 fibres sometimes bearing tubercles. (Dec. Prod.) A deciduous tree, above 

 the middle size. North America. Canada to Carolina. Height 70 ft. to 

 80 ft. Introduced in 1640. Flowers white ; May and June. Legume 

 compressed, dark purplish brown ; ripe in September. Decaying leaves 

 yellow. Naked young wood purplish brown. 



