HONEY LOCUST 
of Robinia pseudacacia, the common Locust, are developed 
from the most innocent-looking stipules, and always remain 
attached to the bark. But the spines of the Honey Locust 
have their origin in a spine bud which forms usually an inch 
above the axil of the leaf in which the normal buds are 
formed. ‘These buds also form on the trunk or, formed 
when the stem was young, remain dormant on the trunk un- 
til stimulated into life by some means, when they push 
through the thick bark and develop as spines. They are in 
fact undeveloped branches, branches that have failed of their 
normal growth of leaf and bud and flower and have become 
simply spines, aggressive, offensive, maybe defensive spines. 
All deciduous trees produce upon occasion or hold in reserve 
adventitious buds. The sprouts that force their way through 
the thick bark of stumps after the trunk has been cut down 
are produced by adventitious buds, long dormant but now 
stimulated to unusual growth. The waving twigs that 
feather the trunk of many an elm tree have the same genesis. 
The Honey Locust frequently becomes a picturesque tree, 
the trunk becomes twisted and the branches extend horizon- 
tally. The leaves appear late in the spring and fall early in 
autumn, which is always an objection to an ornamental 
tree. Unlike the Locust its flowers are inconspicuous. 
The long, flat, pendulous pods, hang in clusters from the 
branches, and the sweet pulp that surrounds the seed gives 
the tree its common name. These pods contract in drying 
and so twist and curl that they are easily rolled by the wind 
some distance from the parent tree. Nature, like a careful 
mother, has many devices to aid her children, and when she 
does not give her seeds wings to soar with the wind, or 
prickles to cling to the passer-by, she sometimes provides in 
the seed vessel a means by which at least it may roll itself 
into a home of its own. 
The Honey Locust has many qualities to recommend it as 
an ornamental tree. It grows rapidly, is tolerant of many 
soils, is hardy and very free from insects’ attacks, It can 
‘ourish under the adverse conditions of city life and is often 
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