26o 



CAESALPINACEAE. 



[Vox,. II. 



4. GLEDITSIA L. Sp. PI. 1056. 1753. 



Large thorny trees, with evenly once or twice pinnate leaves, small stipules, and small 

 greenish polygamous flowers in slender axillary spicate racemes. Calyx campanulate, 3-5- 

 cleft. Petals 3-5, equal, sessile, inserted at the summit of the calyx-tube. Stamens 6-10, dis- 

 tinct; anthers all alike, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary rudimentary or none in the stami- 

 nate flowers, in the fertile ones nearly sessile, elongated or ovoid. Ovules 2-co . Pod linear 

 or oval, flat, nearly straight, or twisted at maturity, coriaceous, tardily dehiscent, i-seeded 

 or many-seeded, pulpy between the seeds. [In honor of J. T. Gleditsch, 1714-1786, German 

 botanist, the name often spelled Gleditschia.] 



About 5 species, natives of eastern North America and Asia. 



Pod linear-oblong, elongated, many-seeded. i. G. I riacanthos. 



Pod obliquely oval, short, i -seeded. 2. G. aquatica. 



i. Gleditsia triacanthos L. Honey 



or Sweet Locust. Three- thorned 



Acacia. (Fig. 2041.) 



Gledilsia triacanlhos L. Sp. PI. 1056. 1753. 



A large tree, with rough bark, maximum height 

 about 140 and trunk diameter 5> , usually armed 

 with numerous stout branching or simple thorns. 

 Leaves petioled, i-2-pinnate; leaflets short-stalked, 

 oblong-lanceolate or oval, obtuse at each end, in- 

 equilateral at the base, glabrous above, often pubes- 

 cent on the veins beneath, crenulate, 8 // -i5 // long; 

 racemes solitary or clustered, slender, drooping, 

 dense, 3'-5' long; flowers greenish, about i" broad; 

 pod linear-oblong, i-i# long, i'-i#' wide, 

 stalked, glabrous and shining, twisted, many- 

 seeded, pulpy within, sometimes eaten. 



In woods, western New York and Ontario to Michi- 

 gan, Georgia, Kansas and Texas. Naturalized and ex- 

 tensively planted further east. Wood durable, bright 

 brownish n-d; wi-ight per cubic ft. 42 Ibs. May-July. 



2. Gleditsia aquatica Marsh. Water or 

 Swamp Locust. (Fig. 2042.) 



Gleditsia aqualica Marsh. Arb. Am. 54. 1785. 

 Gledilsia monosperma Walt. Fl. Car. 254. 1788. 



A tree, with maximum height of about 60, and 

 trunk diameter of 2^. Foliage similar to that of the 

 preceding species, but the leaflets thicker, darker 

 green, usually larger, ovate-lanceolate or lanceolate 

 in outline, the margins more conspicuously crenulate; 

 racemes drooping, elongated; pod obliquely oval, 

 flat, glabrous, narrowed at each end, slender-stalked, 

 I'-i^' long, 9 // -i2 // wide, i -seeded, not pulpy 

 within. 



In swamps, Indiana to Missouri, south to South Caro- 

 lina, Florida and Louisiana. Wood very hard, bright 

 reddish-brown; weight per cubic ft. 46 Ibs. July. 



5. GYMNOCLADUS Lam. Encycl. i: 733. 1783. 



Trees, with bipinnate leaves, and showy white dioecious or polygamous flowers in ter- 

 minal racemes. Calyx tubular, s-lobed, the lobes narrow, nearly equal. Petals 5 (rarely 4), 

 oblong or oval, nearly equal, imbricated, inserted at the top of the calyx-tube. Stamens 10, 

 distinct, shorter than the petals and inserted with them; filaments pubescent; anthers all 

 alike, longitudinally dehiscent. Ovary rudimentary, or none in the staminate flowers, ses- 

 sile and many-ovuled in the pistillate and polygamous ones; style straight. Pod oblong, 

 thick, large, coriaceous, flat, pulpy between the seeds, 2-valved. [Greek, naked-branch.] 



A monotypic genus of eastern North America. 



