152 



PRACTICAL FORESTRY. 



introduced from Japan, but they have not as yet been sufficient- 

 ly tested to determine their value, but some of them are known 

 to be quite tender in our Northern States. 



GLEDiTSCHixV^ L. — Honey Locust, 



A genus of handsome deciduous trees, with Ught and airy 

 foliage. The flowers small and inconspicuous, but are suc- 

 ceeded by one or many-seeded linear, and often twisted pods, 

 containing a sweetish pulp, hence the common name. Om' in- 

 digenous species are, 



Gleditscliia triacantlios, Linn. — Three-thorned Acacia or Honey 

 Locust. — Leaflets lanceolate-oblong, of a light, bright-green 

 color. Thorns mostly compound, flattish at the base, and ta- 

 pering with branches toward the end, very hardy and strong, 

 and on old trees these thorns are often nearly or quite a foot 

 long. Pods ten to twenty inches long, and an inch or more 

 wide, usually slightly twisted. Seeds compressed, very hard 

 and horn-like. The pods often hang on the trees nearly all 

 winter. Seeds do not germinate readily if allowed to become 

 dry, but by scalding and soaking in tepid water for a few days, 

 seed two or three years old can usually be made to grow. The 

 thorns appear on all parts of the tree, and very large ones pro- 

 trude from the main stem, and larger branches, and these, when 

 they fall off, become dangerous to animals and persons 

 frequenting the ground where the trees are growing, and this is 

 one of the greatest objections to this handsome tree. It is 

 often used for hedges, but when pruned, the twigs and branches 

 should be carefully gathered up and burned, or otherwise de- 

 stroyed. It is a very large, handsome, clean tree, seldom at- 

 tacked by insects, and quite hardy in our most Northern 

 States. The wood is heavy, hard, and rather coarse-grained 

 and valuable for many purposes. A variety of this known 

 as inermis or thornless, frequently appears among seed- 

 lings, and occasionally very large specimens are seen, and 

 are much more desirable than those bearing thorns, but 

 they can only be increased by budding or grafting, as they 

 do not come true from seed. Var. Biijoti pendula (Bujot's 

 Weeping) is an elegant, small tree with drooping foHage, 

 coming into leaf quite late in spring. Said to be not quite 

 hardy at Rochester, N. Y. , but it is in my grounds, as I have 

 one tree twenty years old, that has never been injured, even in 

 the coldest winters. 



