PART VI 

 THE POD-BEARING TREES 



The Locusts — The Acacias or Wattles — Other Pod* 



BEARERS 



Whenever we see blossoms of the sweet-pea type on a 

 tree or pods of the same type as the pea's swinging from the 

 twigs, we may be sure that we are looking at a member of 

 the pod-bearing family, leguminosae^ to which herbaceous 

 and woody plants both belong. The family is one of the 

 largest and most important in the plant kingdom, and its 

 representatives are distributed to the uttermost parts of 

 the earth. Four hundred and fifty genera contain the 

 seven thousand species already described by botanists. 

 Varieties without number belong to the cultivated mem- 

 bers of the family, and new forms are being produced by 

 horticulturists all the time. This great group of plants has 

 fed the human race, directly and indirectly, since the First 

 Man appeared on earth. Clovers, alfalfas, lentils, peas, 

 beans yield foodstuffs rich in all the elements that build 

 flesh and bone and nerve tissues. They take the place of 

 meat in vegetarian dietaries. 



Besides foods, the pod-bearers yield rubber, dyestuffs, 

 balsams, oils, medicinal substances, and valuable timber. 

 A long list of ornamental plants, beautiful in foliage and ■ 

 flowers, occurs among them, chiefly of shrub and tree form. ) 



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