178 CHINESE ECONOMIC TREES 



Temperate Asia — Persia to China and Japan. This tree is said to 

 be common in the moist woods of Eastern Szechuan and Western Hupeh 

 and is sometimes planted in the yards of the temples. It has been 

 naturalized in the southern portions of the United States of America. 



Albizzia lebbek Bentham. 



Tall tree 15 m. in height. Leaves about 25 cm. long with 4-8 

 pinnae; each pinna with 6-18 leaflets which are coriaceous, obliquely 

 oblong or ovate-obtuse at the apex, and with the midrib towards one 

 side, 3-4.5 cm. long. Flowers in short peduncled axillary heads 3-4 

 together, greenish-yellow; stamens white and green united only at the 

 base. Pods oblong, flat, coriaceous, shiny, reticulate, 15-20 cm. long. 



South China. Cultivated in most tropical countries. 



CERCIS 



' Trees and shrubs. Leaves deciduous, alternate, simple entire, 

 petiolate, stipulate, palmately veined, broad and rounded with a more 

 or less heart shaped base. Flowers papilionaceous, pedicelled, pink or 

 red, appearing in the spring before the leaves, in clusters, from the wood 

 of one or several years' growth. Calyx 5 toothed, persistent; petals 

 nearly equal, pink or rose color; stamens 10, in 2 rows; ovary oblique at 

 the base of the calyx tube; ovules many; style fleshy. Fruit a flat 

 legume, stalked, oblong or broadly linear, 2 valved, many seeded, dark 

 reddish-purple and shiny. 



7 species in Asia, Europe and America. 2 species in China. The 2 

 Chinese species may be distinguished from one another by the in- 

 florescence. The larger flowers of Cercis chinensis are produced in few 

 flowered clusters while the smaller flowers of 0. racemosa are produced in 

 long pendulous racemes. 



Cercis chinensis Bunge. 



Tree to 15 m. tall. Bark dark gray and smooth on young trees, 

 rough and broken into small plates when old. Leaves heart shaped, 

 pointed and shiny, pale green beneath, 7-15 cm. across, margin marked 

 by a white transparent line. Flowers 4-10 in a cluster, pink, 2 cm. 

 long. Pod reddish-purple, taper pointed, 8-13 cm. long. 



Western Hupeh and Szechuan. Commonly cultivated. 



