522 XE^V EXGLAXD TKEES IX "WIXTER. 



COMMON LOCUST 



Black, Yellow or White Locust, Locust, Acacia. 



Roljinia Pseudo-Acacia L. 



H VBIT — Generally a small tree 20-35 ft. or occasionally 50-75 ft. in 

 heigrht with a trunk diameter of eig"ht inches to 2'-,^ ft.; trunk erect or 

 inclined, frequently dividin.2: into a number of ascending limbs with 

 slender scrag"g"ly branches form ins: a narro'u- oblong open head; often 

 spreading by underground steins and forming thickets of small trees. 

 A rapidly growing tree but shurt lived and subject to the attacks of 

 borers. 



BARK — Rough even on young trunks, dark reddish to yellowish- 

 brown, becoming deeply furrowed into rounded ridges, not flaky. 



TAVIGS — Rather slender, brittle, often zigzag, light reddish to green- 

 ish-brown, smooth or nearly so. more or less angled with decurrent 

 rid ges from base and outer angles of leaf-s'^ars, generally spin>' "n'ith 

 paired stipular prickles at nodes. LEXTICELS — pale, scattered. PITH — 

 wide, more or less angled. 



LEAF-SCARS — Alternate, more than 2-ranked. generally large and 

 conspicuous, in^"erse^y triangular to pent agonal, raised, covering the 

 buds. STIPTfLES — in the form of pri-kles. sometimes poorly developed 

 or entirely lacking. BUNDLE-SCARS — 3. 



BTDS — Terminal bud absent; lateral buds minute, rusty-downy. 3-4 

 superposed, generally close together, enclosed in a rust>'-do'U'ny cavity 

 below the leaf-scar which cracks between the bundle-scars at the 

 de\'elopment of a branch usualb' from the uppermost bud exposing the 

 long rusty hairs attached to under side of the three persistent lobes 

 of the leaf-scar; on rapidly grown shoots, the uppermost bud often 

 develops into a branch the first season, which may be rudimentary and 

 deciduous, leaving a small scar above leaf-scar. 



FRriT — A dark brown, flat pod, 5-10 .m. long, containing 4-S small 

 brown mottled flatish seeds, persistent on the tree throughout the 

 winter. 



ro:\rpARISOXS — The paired prickles at the nodes form the most 

 striking character of the Crimmon Locust but since they are absent on 

 some twigs and entireb' lacking on certain varieties, the hidden closely- 

 packed downy buds must be taken as the chief distinguishing features. 

 They separate the Common Locust from the Honey Locust when the 

 characteristic branched thorns are not present on the latter species. The 

 Clammy Locust [Rohinia viscosn Vent.] is a small southern tree fre- 

 quently cultivated and established at many points throughout New 

 England. It has the general characters of the Common Locust but 

 the stipular prickles are less ^'ell developed and its twigs are covered 

 ■\^"ith a sticky glandular coating. The BristU' Locust [Robinia hispida 

 L.l is a mere shrub with twigs beset ^\'ith bristly hairs but without 

 stipular prickles. The Prickly Ash or Tootliache Tree [Zantho.riilon 

 omencamim L.], a shrub occurring throughout New England, resembles 

 the Locust in its stipular prickles (lo-^'er t'^'ig in plate"). It is readily 

 distinguished from the Locusts, however, by the red downy exposed 

 clustered buds, the presence of a terminal bud and the pungent flavor 

 ot its t'wigs. 



niSTRIBlTIOX — In its native habitat growins: upon mountain slopes, 

 along the borders of forests, in riidi soils. Nat uralized from Nova 

 S'-otia to Ontario. Nati\'e from southern Pennsylvania along the 

 mountains to Georgia; west to Towa and southward. Formerly much 

 planted as an ornamental and timber tree; more culti\'ated in Europe 

 than an\' other American tree. 



IN NE'n" ENGLAXr> — Maine— thorough! y at home, forming wooded 

 banks along streams; New Hampshire^ — abundant enough to be reckoned 

 among the valuable timber trees; "\'ermont — escciped from cultivation in 

 many places; Massachusetts. Rhode Island— common in patches and 

 thickets and along the roadsides and fences. 



IN CONNECTICUT — Frequent as an escape from cultivation. 



AVOOD — Heavy, exceedingly hard and strong, close-grained, very 

 durable in contact with tlie soil. Iirown or rarely light green, with 

 pale ^" e 1 1 o w s a p w o o d ri f t t\' o or three 1 a > e r s of annual .growth: exten- 

 sively used in shipbuilding for all sr,rts of p.ists, in const ruction and 

 t urner>" ; preferred for t ree nails and ^"alued as fuel. 



