76 
YELLOW WOOD. 
This tree grows of preference on gentle declivities, in a loose, deep and 
fertile soil, and is usually accompanied by the Red Mulberry, Coffee Tree, 
Sweet Locust, Black Walnut, and other species whose presence evinces 
the richness of the land. It rarely exceeds 40 feet in height, and 1 foot in 
diameter, and in general it does not attain even these dimensions. Its 
trunk is covered with a greenish bark, which is smooth instead of being 
furrowed like that of most other trees. 
The leaves of the Yellow Wood are 6 or 8 inches long on old trees, and 
of twice this size on young and thriving stocks. They are composed of 
two rows of leaflets, smooth, entire, nearly round and about an inch and a 
half in diameter. The leaflets are 3, 4 or 5 on each side, borne by short 
petioles, and surmountèd by an odd one, which is supported by the com- 
mon footstalk. As in the Buttonwood, the lower part of the footstalk con- 
tains the bud, i which becomes visible on plucking the leaf. 
The flowers form elegant, white, pendulous bunches, a little larger than 
those of the Locust, but less odoriferous. 
The seeds of the Yellow Wood also nearly resemble those of the Locust, 
and are contained in pods that differ ohly in being a little narrower.* The 
seeds are ripe in the vicinity of Nashville about the 15th of August, at 
which season, in the year 1812, I collected a quantity and afterwards dis- 
tributed them in France to nurserymen and amateurs of foreign plants. 
From these seeds have sprung the trees which we see growing with so 
much vigor in Europe, and mocking the rigor of our winters : several of 
them bloomed in the year 1813. 
From the form and foliage of this tree, my. father was of opinion that it 
belonged to the genbs Sophora : the affinity is proved by the fact that it is 
grafted with success into that genus only. It was hastily ranged as a new 
genus, by the name of Virgilia, before its flowers had been examined; 
though without the inspection of this part of a vegetable no certain opinion 
can be formed of its affinities. 
To procure the seeds from which have sprung the beautiful trees that 
are seen in the gardens of Paris, I felled several stocks, and thus had an 
opportunity of examining the quality of the wood. Its grain is fine and 
soft ; it is principally remarkable for the yellow color of- the heart, which 
speedily imparts this hue to cold water ; but the color is fugitive even 
where the wood is boiled with alum. The inhabitants of the country were 
very desirous of finding some method of rendering it permanent. 
Aside from the fine vegetation of the Yellow Wood, the brilliant color 
of its heart appears to me to be a sufficient motive for multiplying it till we 
become able to appreciate its importance in dyeing. 
* [Gardeners and others should endeavor to procure seeds from this tree, which is destinedto be 
one of the most popular, as it is one of the most ornamental of our native productions.] 
