CHAP. XL I. LEGUMINA CEJE. KOUI NIJ. 61 S 



America to Vespasian Robin (son to Jean Robin), who was arborist to 

 Louis XIII., and was planted by him in the Jardin des Plantes in 1635. 



In England, it appears to have been first cultivated by the elder Tra- 

 descant; but whether he obtained it from France, or direct from Virginia, is 

 uncertain. It is highly probable, that he may have received it from America 

 even before Robin, as Parkinson, in his Theatre of Plants, published in 1640, 

 mentions the tree as having been grown by Tradescant " to an exceeding 

 height." The first tree planted in Paris still exists (as noticed p. 136.) ; 

 and the first tree planted in Germany, in 1696, still remains, though in a very 

 decayed state, in a court-yard in Vienna (as noticed p. 147.). Tradescant's 

 tree was in existence when Sir William Watson visited his garden in 1749. 

 (See p. 40.) The earliest notice of the robinia in England is that in Parkin- 

 son's Theatre of Plants, before referred to: it is not mentioned by Gerard, 

 either in the first edition of his Herbal, published in 1597, or in that edited by 

 Johnson, in 1629. Evelyn, in the first edition of his Sylva, published in 1664, 

 says, " The French have lately brought in the Virginian acacia, which exceed- 

 ingly adorns their walks. The tree is hardy against all the invasions of our 

 sharpest seasons; but our high winds, which, by reason of its brittle nature, it 

 does not so well resist ; and the roots (which insinuate and run like liquorice 

 under ground) are apt to emaciate the soil, and, therefore, haply not so com- 

 mendable in our gardens as they would be agreeable for variety of walks and 

 shade. They thrive well in His Majesty's new plantation in St. James's Park." 

 {Sylva, ed. 1664, p. 64.) In the edition of the Sylva published in 1 706, Evelyn 

 speaks of two acacias, the gleditschia and the false acacia ; " both which," he 

 says, " deserve a place among avenue trees, and love to be planted among moist 

 ground." Mortimer, in 1712, says, " A great number of acacias were for- 

 merly planted in St. James's Park ; but, in consequence of some of their 

 branches being broken by the wind, they were all cut down." Bradley, 

 in 1718, speaks of the Virginian acacia as the only species of that tree that 

 will stand the open air in England, and refers to some of them growing in 

 the court before Russell House, Bloomsbury (now the British Museum), and 

 in the Old Palace Yard, Westminster. None of these trees now exist. Ray, in 

 his History, published in 17 19, mentions the robinia as among the trees growing 

 in the Bishop of London's garden at Fulham. According to Lysons there 

 were two trees there in 1809; and the remains of one of them still exist (1836). 

 (See p. 43.) Miller, in 1731, speaks of the robinia as very common in gar- 

 dens near London, where there were, in his time, several large old trees. He 

 says that they are very hardy, but will not endure being exposed to high 

 strong winds, which break their branches, and render them unsightly. " Many 

 people," he adds, " have neglected to cultivate them on that account ; but they 

 will do well if planted in wildernesses among other trees, where they will be 

 sheltered, and make a beautiful variety." Miller mentions one 40 ft. high as 

 a large tree ; and he also states that, in his time, the robinia had ripened 

 seeds in England, from which young plants had been raised. In 1752, he 

 says that the robinia was generally propagated in English nurseries by suckers 

 from the roots of old trees, but that he prefers raising them from seeds. 

 Young plants, he says, frequently make shoots of from 6 ft. to 8 ft. in length 

 in one season. " These trees," he adds, " were formerly in great request in 

 England, and were frequently planted in avenues, and for shady walks; but 

 their branches being generally broken or split down by the wind in summer, 

 when they are clothed with leaves, the trees are rendered improper for this 

 purpose; and their leaves coming out late in the spring, and falling off early 

 in the autumn, occasioned their being neglected for many years ; but of late 

 they have been much in request again, so that the nurseries have been cleared 

 of these trees ; though, in a few years, they will be as little enquired after as 

 heretofore, when those which have been lately planted begin to have their 

 ragged appearance." {Diet., 6th edit, in 1752.) In the seventh edition of 

 his Dictionary, published in 1759, Miller says that young trees, two or three 



t t 4 



