172 THE TREE BOOK 



eat its attractive foliage. They are three- 

 pronged, richly-colored affairs, sometimes sev- 

 eral inches in length, and frequently bearing a 

 stunted leaf or two which proves that they are 

 branches which have been forced into adopting 

 a military career. In winter they give the tree 

 a certain fierceness, which is strengthened by 

 the ominous rattling of the long brown pods. 

 Presently, however, the pods twist into odd 

 cork-screw shapes and finally let loose their hold 

 and go careening away over the fields, to lodge 

 at last in some favorable place where the pods 

 decay and liberate the hard shiny seeds. The 

 honey locust bears small inconspicuous green- 

 ish-white flowers, which grow in long narrow 

 racemes, or clusters, after the fashion of the 

 locust family. It is quite a favorite as an orna- 

 mental tree, notwithstanding that it is rather 

 late in getting its foliage and early in putting 

 it off. All summer long the leaves are tinged 

 with yeUow. In autumn they are a mass of 

 yellow and russet shades, often tinting to pur- 

 ple. The honey locust gets its name from the 

 honey-sweet pulp in which the seeds are packed. 

 "When fresh and green, this "honey" is some- 

 times relished by man and beast. 



The moss locust, or rose acacia, is familiar 

 to many as an ornamental lawn and garden 



