The Red- Bud: The Acacias. 259 



1024. This species offers many inducements for planting. It is 

 not troublesome from sprouting, as is the common locust ; it is far 

 less liable to insect injuries, and after the first year it is, hardy. It 

 bears transplanting much more easily than most other trees. 



1025. THE WATER-LOCUST (Gleditschia monaqperma). This is a 

 small tree, growing in swamps along the Gulf States and as far 

 northward as Southern Illinois. It is of but small size, and the 

 wood of little value. 



1026. RED-BUD OR JUDAS-TREE (Cercis Canadensis). This is a 

 small but highly ornamental tree, which is covered in spring with 

 bright red blossoms. One of its common names was given by Ger- 

 ard, an old English gardener (1596), who says that ''this is the 

 tree whereon Judas did hange himselfe, and not upon ye elder, as it is 

 said." The common European species is the 0. dliquastrwn. 



1027. The red-bud is found native on river banks from New 

 Jersey southward to Florida, and in the Western States. It grows 

 to the height of from 15 to 30 feot, and is often cultivated for orna- 

 ment. The small, deep, rose-colored flowers appear before the 

 leaves, in clumps of 4 to 8, in March and April. The fruit has an 

 acid taste. 



THE ACACIAS. 



1028. The genus Acacia numbers about 400 species, chiefly 

 found in warm climates, and most abundant in Australia and 

 Africa. We have about a dozen native species, chiefly herb- 

 aceous, on the southern borders of the United States, and one 

 (A. Gregcjii) in California. Several species of the WATTLE (Acacia 

 pycnantha the " broad leaf," " golden," and " green " wattle ; A. de- 

 currens, the "black" wattle; and A. dealbata, or "silver" wattle) 

 are extensively used in Australia, and exported from thence as a 

 tanning material. The wattles grow readily on loose, sandy soil, 

 and might be cultivated in the milder regions of the United States, 

 and especially on the Pacific coast. 



1029. The wood is tough, hard, and durable, and is used for 

 staves, spokes of wheels, tool handles, and many other purposes. 

 The acacias exude a gum that has commercial value, and furnish 

 excellent firewood. The quality of the bark for tanning depends 

 much upon the soil, and it is of much less value when grown upon 

 a limestone formation. The tree is not long lived, and it is at its 

 prime when about ten years old, at which age the wood is nine or 



