220 ECOXOAriC BOTANY OF ALABAMA 



mine its natural distribution. Some of the roadside specimens 

 may have been purposely planted, but others may have sprung up 

 from seeds dropped by animals. 



G. aquatica, Marsh. (G. monospcrma, Walt.), a similar-looking but 

 smaller tree, with small one-seeded pods, has long been known in Georgia 

 and Mississippi, and in other states farther east and west, but there seems 

 to be absolutely no record of it for Alabama, which is rather surprising. 

 Possibly the forms east and west of here are really distinct species; but if 

 not, it may be found in Alabama some time. 



PARKINSONIA, Linnaeus. (Palo Verde) 



Parkinsonia aculeata, L. 



A small tree, with narrow pinnate leaves and yellow flowers. 

 Occasionally cultivated for ornament, and rarely escaping around 

 Mobile, according to Mohr. Native of the tropics. 



LEGUMINOSAE proper (or FABACEAE). Pulse or Pea Family. 



A large family of world-wide distribution, with about 350 

 genera and over 1,000 species, containing many useful and orna- 

 mental and a few poisonous plants. In yield of food and fodder 

 it is exceeded only by the grasses. Its representatives in temperate 

 regions are mostly herbs, but there are in Alabama two trees and 

 eight or ten shrubs and vines. 



Cladrastis lutea (Mx.) Koch. (C. tinctoria, Raf.) 



CLADRASTIS, Rafinsque. (Only one species.) 



Yellow-wood. 

 (Fig. 55) 



A small to medium-sized tree, with smooth bark, brittle 

 branches, deciduous pinnate leaves with large alternate leaflets, 

 and white flowers in April and May. The largest specimens I 

 have seen are about 14 inches in diameter and 50 feet tall, near 

 Lock 11: on the Warrior River. It seems to bloom and fruit rather 

 sparingly in Alabama. 



Occasionally cultivated for ornament. The wood yields a 

 yellow dye. 



Grows mostly on rich rocky bluffs along rivers. 



lA. Along Tennessee River at Sheffield, Colbert County (Al. C. Wil- 

 son). Seen in 1922 on south bank of Mussel Shoals, a few miles farther 

 upstream, but probably now drowned out by the Wilson Dam. 



