PEA FAMILY 



apex. They come out of the bud condupHcate, yellow green, cov- 

 ered with silvery down whicli soon disappears ; when full grown are 

 dull dark green abo\e, paler beneath. Feallier-\ eined, mid\ein 

 prominent. In autumn tlie\- tuin a elear pale yellow. Stipules 

 linear, downy, membranous at. first, ultimately developing into 

 hard woody piiekles, straight or slightly cur\ed. Each leaflet has a 

 minute stipel which quickh falls and a short petiole. 



F/cni'frs. — May, after the lea\es. Papilionaceous. Perfect, bone 

 in loose drooping racemes four to five inches long, cream-white, 

 about an inch long, nectar bearing, fragrant. Pedicels slender, halt 

 an inch long, dark red or reddish green. 



Oify-v. — Canipanulate, gibbous, hairy, five-toothed, slightly two- 

 lipped, dark green blotched with red, especially on the upper side ; 

 teeth valvate in bud. 



Corolla. — Imperfectly papilionaceous, petals inserted upon a tu- 

 bular disk; standard white with pale >ellow blotch ; wings white,, 

 oblong-falcate ; keel petals incurved, obtuse, united below. 



Stamens. — Ten, inserted with the petals, diadelphous, nine infe- 

 rior, united into a tube which is cleft on the upper ^ide, superior 

 one free at the base. Anthers two-celled, cells opening longitudi- 

 nally. 



Pistil. — Ovary superior, linear-oblong, stipitate, one-celled ; 

 style inflexed. long, slender, bearded ; stigma capitate ; oxules 

 several, two-ranked. 



Fruit. — Legume two-\ al\ed, smooth, three to four inches long 

 and half an inch bioad, usually lour to eight seeded. Ripens late 

 in autumn and hangs on the br.inches until early spring. Seeds 

 dark orange brown with irregular markings. Cotyledons oval, fleshy. 



The value o^ Roh'mia pscNdtrjc'ui is practic.'ill)' clcstrr)yc(l in nearly all parts 

 of the United States bevund the muuntain forusts which arc- its liunie, by tlie 

 borers which riddle the trunk ami liranchcs. Were it not for these insects it 

 would be one of tlie most \'alual)le tinil)er-trecs that cnulil i)e planted in tlie 

 northern and middle states. The character of the tinilier winch; it produces, the 

 rapidity of its growth, its power to adapt itself to difterent soils and to repro- 

 duce itself rapidly by seeds which gernunate readily, and i»y stump and root 

 shoots, would make it a most valualile tree it it could lie protected from in- 

 sects. Young trees grow quickly and \"igor(jusly tor .a nimrl)er of years, but 

 soon become stunted and diseased, and rarely live long enough to attain any 

 commercial value, — Cn.vRLtcs S. Sakgknt. 



It is an interesting question why some trees grow so much 

 more rapirlly than others, and the explanation seems to lie in 

 the character of the roots. Any tree whose principal roots 

 extend just beneath the surface grows rapidly because the 

 soil there is the richest ; but the cause which produces this 



