PEA FAMILY 



apex. They come out of the bud conduplicate, yellow green, cov- 

 ered with silvery down which soon disappears ; when full grown are 

 dull dark green above, paler beneath. Feather-veined, midvein 

 prominent. In autumn they turn a clear pale yellow. Stipules 

 linear, downy, membranous at first, ultimately developing into 

 hard woody prickles, straight or slightly curved. Each leaflet has a 

 minute stipel which quickly falls and a short petiole. 



Flowers. — May, after the leaves. Papilionaceous. Perfect, borne 

 in loose drooping racemes four to five inches long, cream-white, 

 about an inch long, nectar bearing, fragrant. Pedicels slender, half 

 an inch long, dark red or reddish green. 



Calyx. — Campanulate, gibbous, hairy, five- toothed, slightly two- 

 lipped, dark green blotched with red, especially on the upper side ; 

 teeth valvate in bud. 



Corolla. — Imperfectly papilionaceous, petals inserted upon a tu- 

 bular disk ; standard white with pale yellow blotch ; wings white, 

 oblong-falcate ; keel petals incurved, obtuse, united below. 



Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the petals, diadelphous, nine infe- 

 rior, united into a tube which is cleft on the upper side, superior 

 one free at the base. Anthers two-celled, cells opening longitudi- 

 nally. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, linear-oblong, stipitate, one-celled ; 

 style inflexed. long, slender, bearded ; stigma capitate ; ovules 

 several, two-ranked. 



Fruit. — Legume two-valved, smooth, three to four inches long 

 and half an inch broad, usually four to eight seeded. Ripens late 

 in autumn and hangs on the branches until early spring. Seeds 

 dark orange brown with irregular markings. Cotyledons oval, fleshy. 



The value oiRobinia fseudacacia is practically destroyed in nearly all parts 

 of the United States beyond the mountain forests which are its home, by the 

 borers which riddle the trunk and branches. Were it not for these insects it 

 would be one of the most valuable timber-trees that could be planted in the 

 northern and middle states. The character of the timber which it produces, the 

 rapidity of its growth, its power to adapt itself to different soils and to repro- 

 duce itself rapidly by seeds which germinate readily, and by stump and root 

 shoots, would make it a most valuable tree if it could be protected from in- 

 sects. Young trees grow quickly and vigorously for a number of years, but 

 soon become stunted and diseased, and rarely live long enough to attain any 

 commercial value. — Charles S. Sargent. 



It is an interesting question why some trees grow so much 

 more rapidly than others, and the explanation seems to lie in 

 the character of the roots. Any tree whose principal roots 

 extend just beneath the surface grows rapidly because the 

 soil there is the richest ; but the cause which produces this 



