FOREST TREES. 143 
1. Robinia Pseudacacia—Common Locust. 
Branches, naked; racemes, slender, loose; flowers, 
white, fragrant; pod, smooth. 
The Locust is commonly a middle-sized tree, but, 
according to Michaux, it grows in Kentucky and 
West Tennessee to the height of seventy or eighty 
feet, with a diameter of four feet. It has been widely 
disseminated for ornament, and occasionally planted 
for the sake of its very valuable timber. As an 
ornamental tree, it is very handsome while young, 
but becomes ugly as it increases in age. The wood 
is hard, compact, and strong, and resists decay longer 
than almost any other kind of timber. It is employed 
in ship-building whenever it can be obtained, and is 
highly valued for that purpose. It is also used for 
posts, which are more lasting than any others, 
excepting those of the Red Mulberry. In a stick 
of Locust timber, the proportion of sap-wood is very 
small. 
There are varieties of the Locust, named White, 
Yellow, and Black Locust, differing principally in 
the durability of the wood. Some have supposed this 
difference to be caused by the different soils in which 
they grow, but this does not appear to be the case. 
The Yellow Locust grown on Long Island was intro- 
duced from North Carolina about one hundred years 
since, and is most esteemed. This variety produces 
seed very sparingly. The White Locust, so called 
from the color of the heart, grows in similar soils, 
and is not very durable. It is sometimes called Seed 
Locust, from the abundance of seed which it pro- 
