The Locust. 



324. There are several varieties of the Acacia, flistiii- 

 guished by the difference in the size of their leaves, by that 

 in the colour of the blossoms, by that of the size and shape 

 of the sccd-pod, and by the size and shape of the seeds 

 themselves. Some of these varieties, according to Michaux, 

 yield but very indifferent timber, though they differ but 

 very little in the size and shape of the leaf, and in the size 

 and look of the tree itself. One of these is called the Yellow 

 Wood, in America; another is called the Sweet Locust; 

 another is called the Water Locust, I have seen several 

 trees, in England, of a Locust differing in appearance 

 and in blossom but very little from the Robinia; but the 

 wood of which, as Michaux says, is good for very little; 

 so that the greatest care must be taken, as to the variety 

 of sort which is sowed. 



325. This tree was first introduced into Europe by J. 

 Robin, a French botanist, who received it from Canada, and 

 cultivated it in France in the reign of Henry the Fourth. 

 — *^To commemorate the introduction of so valuable a 

 " tree," says Michaux, " and to express the acknowledg- 

 " ments due to the person who had conferred this benefit 

 " upon the old continent, Linnaeus gave the genus to which 

 " it belongs, the name of Robinia." This, therefore, is that 

 particular sort of Locust, which word Locust is used by 

 Michaux because it is the name given to the tree by the 

 inhabitants of America, who had a right to give it what 

 name they pleased ; and which name I use, not only for that 

 reason, but to prevent any person, sending to America 

 either for timber or for seed, from being disappointed, there 

 being hardly one man in twenty thousand who knows the 

 tree by any other name. It is curious that Michaux, in 

 speaking of the fine trees which he had seen in America of 

 this sort, should mention those which he saw near Harris- 



