15 18 The Trees of Great Britain and Ireland 



of plants without spines may be selected from beds of seedlings of the ordinary 



form. 



2. Var. Bujoti, Rehder, in Bailey, Cycl. Amer. Hort. 650 {1900). 



Gleditschia Bujoti, Neumann, in Rev. Hort. iv. 205 (1845). 

 Branches pendulous ; leaflets narrower than in the typical form. 



3. Var. nana, Hort. Kew. A small round-headed tree of compact habit, with 

 dark green foliage, and leaflets shorter and broader than in the type. This, of which 

 there is a living example at Kew, appears to be identical with G. ferox, var. nana, 

 Rehder, in Bailey, Cycl. Amer. Hort. 650 (1900) ; and is possibly G. sinensis, var. 

 nana, Loudon, Arb. et Frut. Brit. ii. 654 (1838). 



4. This species probably hybridizes with G. aquatica. Schneck, in Plant World, 

 vii. 252 (1904), states that he found several trees of evidently hybrid origin growing 

 on the edge of a swamp on Mt. Carmel, Illinois. These bore pods about 5 in. long 

 and \\ in. broad which were entirely destitute of pulp. 



G. texana, Sargent, in Bot. Gaz. xxxi. i (1901), Silva N. Amer. xiii. 13, t. 627 

 (1902), and Trees N. Amer. 557 (1905). bears similar pods, and is said to be only 

 found as a single grove of large trees, growing in alluvial soil along the Brazos river, 

 near Brazoria in Texas. As both G. triacanthos and G. aquatica are found in the 

 valley of the Brazos river, it is probable that G. texana is a hybrid between these two 

 species. There are similar pods, without foliage, in the Kew Herbarium, which are 

 labelled " Gleditschia brachyloba} Mississippi Banks, Nuttall." 



A small plant of G. texana, obtained from the Arnold Arboretum in 1900, is 

 now growing at Kew. It differs from native specimens in having spines on the 

 branchlets. {A. H.) 



Distribution and Cultivation 



G. triacanthos is a native of North America, extending from the western slope 

 of the Alleghany Mountains in Pennsylvania westward through Ontario and Michigan 

 to Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, and Indian Territory, and southward to Alabama, 

 Mississippi, and the valley of the Brazos river in Texas. It usually grows on the 

 borders of streams or in valleys in moist fertile land, either singly or in rare cases 

 covering considerable areas almost exclusively, and occasionally occurs on dry 

 gravelly hills. Sargent states that it is now often found naturalised in the region 

 east of the Alleghany Mountains. It attains its largest size in Indiana and Illinois, 

 where Ridgway^ states that it was formerly one of the most majestic trees of 

 the forest. Many were 120 to 140 ft. high, with straight trunks clear of branches 

 to 50 or 70 ft., and 4 to 6 ft. in diameter. No trees except the Cypress and Catalpa 

 had a more characteristic appearance, its tall straight but usually inclined trunk, 

 of a dark grey or nearly black colour, being conspicuous at a distance, while the 

 delicate foliage made its top contrast with other species. He^ gives 156 ft. as its 

 maximum height, on the authority of Dr. Schneck, who showed me the remains of 



1 G. brachycarpa, Pursh, is probably meant, the specimens being collected by Nuttall. 

 2 Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. 1S82, p. 64. 3 Ridgway, Additional Notes, 419. 



