On " The Point " — Second Excursion 



With a pinnate leaf of larger leaflets than in the fore- 

 going, the common locust mingles most gracefully with 

 such simple-leaved trees as the linden, catalpa, and ma- 

 ple. But its finest feature is its long pendent racemes 

 of fragrant white blossoms, filling the air with delicious 

 perfume. A large cluster can be seen on " The Point," 

 which well rewards a visit in blossoming time, the last 

 of May. Odor is the vaguest charm in the world of 

 sense, a sort of spiritual presence, on the very confines 

 of matter, sometimes as subtle as a blush, and evanes- 

 cent as a smile. But, vague as it is, no other sensations 

 are so indelible in the memory, inseparably blending 

 with experience sweet and bitter, so that the most casual 

 whiff" invokes a vision of events in years long fled. 



A cluster of much larger locusts will be found at the 

 extreme northwest end of the Park. This species has 

 bark that is rough and much lighter colored than the 

 preceding. The bark is prickly, especially on the 

 younger growth, but in the honey-locust it is thorny; 

 the difference is radical. Prickles, however large, are 

 an outgrowth of the bark; peel off" the bark and the 

 prickles go with it; thorns or spines are metamorphosed 

 branches, and proceed from the wood beneath the bark, 

 and are rigidly attached. The pods of the common 

 locust also hang all winter, but are neither so long nor 

 black, as in the honey-locust. 



"All good things go in threes," says the proverb, 

 and the author may have had locusts in mind when he 

 said it : for quite as ornamental in its way is the third 

 member of the trio, the clammy locust {Robinia viscosd), 

 which is one of the unfortunate omissions of the Park 

 8i 



