80 
WATER LOCUST. 
are less numerous, smaller, and more pointed ; they are often simple, or 
accompanied near the base with a single secondary thorn. 
The leaves nearly resemble those of the Sweet Locust, from which they 
differ in being a little smaller in all their proportions. 
The flowers, which are not conspicuous, are of a greenish color and 
destitute of odor. The pods are ripe at the beginning of November. 
They are reddish, about an inch in diameter, and united in bunches of 3 
or-4, each of which contains a single naked seed. 
The wood of the Water Locust resembles that of the Sweet Locust in 
its loose texture and yellow color ; but as it grows in wet grounds, it is 
consequently inferior in quality. In Carolina and Georgia it is wholly 
neglected in use. 
I believe there exists in the Western States another species of Prickly 
Locust, whose pods are narrow and only 4 inches in length ; but my infor- 
mation is not sufficiently accurate to allow me to describe it. 
PLATE LXXX. 
A branch with leaves and a thorn of the natural size. Fig. 1 , A pod of the 
natural size. Fig. 2, A seed. 
[We are accustomed to consider some of the forest trees of this country 
• — the Sycamores of the Ohio, or the giant Pines of Oregon, as at least respect- 
able specimens of size and longevity, but they seem saplings of yesterday, 
when compared with some of the enormous leguminous trees of the forests of 
Brazil. Dr. Martius, a careful and accurate scientific traveller, speaking 
of Locust trees in South America, represents a scene in Brazil, where some 
trees of this kind occur of such enormous dimensions, that fifteen Indians 
with outstretched arms, could only just embrace one of them. At the bot- 
tom they were 84 feet in circumference, and 60 feet where the trunks 
became cylindrical. By counting the concentric rings of such parts as were 
accessible, he arrived at the conclusion that they were of the age of Homer, 
and 332 years old in the age of Pythagoras ; he argues that the trees can- 
not but date far beyond the time of our Saviour.] 
