218 ECONOMIC BOTANY OF ALABAAIA 



very handsome when covered with pink-purple flowers (exactly 

 the color of peach blossoms) in March, before the leaves appear. 

 The wood is of a rich brown color, and takes a good polish, but is 

 usually of too small dimensions to be of any commercial impor- 

 tance. The tree is often cultivated for ornament, and there is said 

 to be a double-flowered variety of it. The flowers furnish honey, 

 and the bark of the root is supposed to have some medicinal prop- 

 erties. 



Growls in rich woods, especially in limestone regions. 



lA. Limestone County. 



IB. Colbert, Franklin, Madison, Morgan, Marshall, and probably all 

 the other counties ; common. 



IC. Colbert and Morgan Counties. 



2A. Cullman, Marshall, DeKalb and Blount Counties. 



2B. Walker, Jefferson and Tuscaloosa Counties, mostly on shaly 

 bluffs. 



3. Common throughout. 



5. Cleburne, Clay, Coosa, Chilton. Elmore, and probably scattered in 

 all the other counties. 



6A. Fayette, Tuscaloosa and Elmore Counties. 



6C. Elmore and Montgomery Counties. 



7, 8. Common. 



lOE. Pike, Coffee and Covington Counties. 



low. 11. Common. 



1. On limestone outcrops in Covington and Houston Counties. 



GLEDITSIA, Linnaeus (formerly spelled Glcditschia) . 



The Honey Locusts. 



Gleditsia triacanthos, L. (Honey) Locust. 



(Fig. 54) 



A medium-sized or large very thorny tree with compound de- 

 ciduous leaves, small greenish but fragrant flowers in spring, and 

 long flat crooked brown pods in fall. This is recommended as an 

 ornamental tree, but is better for hedges, on account of its formid- 

 able compound thorns. The wood has a limited use for fence- 

 posts, hubs, etc. The flowers furnish honey, and the pulp in the 

 pods is eaten by domestic animals and small boys. 



This appears to be native in bottoms and on limestone out- 

 crops in the Tennessee Valley, and on some of the richer soils in 

 the black belt and farther south, all the way to the upper part of 

 the Mobile delta. But most of the specimens seen at the present 

 time are along roadsides and in clearings (somewhat as in the case 

 of the l)lack walnut, but more so), so that it is difficult to deter- 



