538 AMERICAN FOREST TREES 



to twenty-one. The flowers appear in May and are less showy than those of the 

 eastern locust. The wood is heavy, exceedingly hard, the heartwood yellow, streaked 

 with brown, the thin sapwood light yellow. This locust is occasionally used locally 

 for small posts or stakes, but is generally too small. It is sometimes met with in 

 cultivation in Europe and the eastern states. 



TEXAN EBONY (Zygia flexvcaidis) ranges from the Texas coast through Mexico 

 to Lower California. It reaches a height of thirty feet or more, and a diameter of 

 two or less. It is a beautiful tree along, the lower Rio Grande where it reaches its 

 largest size. The light yellow or cream-colored, very fragrant flowers bloom from 

 June till August; the fruit ripens in Autumn but adheres several months to the 

 branches. Mexicans roast the seeds as a substitute for coffee. The color of the 

 heartwood gives this- tree its name, but it is not a true ebony. The wood of the roots 

 is blacker than that of the trunk, and small articles made of roots resemble black 

 ebony of Ceylon. The trunk wood is liable to be streaked with black, brown, and 

 medium yellow. The rings of annual growth are frequently of different colors. 

 Considerable demand is made upon this wood in Texas for crossties. It is very 

 durable, but is so hard that holes must be bored for the spikes. It is sold in large 

 amounts as cordwood, and it burns well. Other articles made of this so-called ebony 

 are foundation blocks for buildings and rollers for moving houses. It is used also for 

 small turnery. 



HUAJILLO (Zygia brevifolia) has no English name, but Americans in the Rio 

 Grande valley where this tree grows call it by its Mexican name. It is a larger tree 

 in Mexico than on this side of the river. It is not often more than thirty feet high 

 and six inches in diameter, and is generally a shrub. Its beautiful foliage looks like 

 masses of ferns, and the flowers range from white to violet-yellow. The wood is 

 dark, hard, heavy, and is seldom used for anything but fuel. 



FLORIDA CAT'S CLAW (Zygia unguis-caii), with a Latin name that would make 

 Julius Caesar stare and gasp, reaches its largest size in the United States on Elliott's 

 Key, Florida. Its name refers to its curved thorns. Trunks twenty-five feet high 

 and eight inches in diameter are the largest in this country. It bears pods, but the 

 leaves are not compound, thus differing from most trees of the pea family. The 

 wood is not put to any use, though it is very hard and heavy, rich red, varying to 

 purple, with clear yellow sapwood. It is said to check badly in drying. The bark is 

 used for medicine in some of the islands of the West Indies. 



