ROB 
the open air, placing them in a flickered fituation, 
where they may remain for near three months in the 
warmed part of fummer : during the winter feafon, 
thefe plants fhould be fparingly watered, for as they 
grow naturally on a dry foil, much wet will deftioy 
them, efpecially in cold weather. 
They retain their leaves all the year, fo make a varie- 
ty in the ftove in winter, and when they flower, make 
a fine aDDearance, though their flowers are but itnall •, 
for as they are produced in long bunches, from al- 
moft every joint toward the end of the branches, fo 
the whole plant is well adorned during their conti- 
nuance •, and if they do produce fruit, as that will re- 
main long before it is ripe, fo their beauty will be of 
longer duration. 
ROB IN I A. Lin. Gen. Plant. 775. Pfeudoacacia. 
Tourn. Inft. R. H. 649. tab. 417. Falfe Acacia. 
The Characters are, 
■ The empalement of -the flower is [mall , of one leaf, and 
divided into four parts, the three under fegments being 
narrow, but the upper one is broad. The flower is of 
the Pea bloom kind : the ftandard is large, roundijh, ob- 
tufe, and fpreads open. The two wings are oval , and 
have floor t appendixes which are obtufe . The keel is 
roundijh, comprejfed , obtufe, and is extended the length of 
the wings. In the center is fituated ten ftamina , nine of 
them being joined together, and the other ftanding fingle , 
terminated by roundijh fummits. It hath an oblong cy- 
lindrical germen, fupporting a flender ftyle , crowned by a 
hairy fiigma ■, thefe are inclofed by the keel. The germen 
afterward becomes an oblong comprejfed pod, incloflng kid 
ney-Jhaped feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the third fedlion of 
Linnaeus’s feventeenth clafs, which includes thofe 
plants whofe flowers have ten ftamina joined in two 
bodies. 
The Species are, 
1. Robinia ( Pfeudoacacia ) racemis pedicellis unifloris, 
foliis imp'ari-pinnatis, ftipulis fpinofis. Hort. Upfal. 
212. Robinia with branching foot-ftalks each fupporting 
one flower, unequal winged leaves , and prickly ftipula. 
Pfeudoacacia vulgaris. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 649. Com- 
mon Baftard Acacia, or American Acacia , called in Ame- 
rica Locuft-tree. 
2. Robinia {Echinata) pedunculis racemofis, foliis im- 
pari-pinnatis, leguminibus echinatis. Robinia with 
foot-ftalks fupporting long bunches of flowers , unequal 
winged leaves, and prickly pods. Pfeudoacacia Ameri- 
cana, filiquis echinatis. Boerh. Ind. alt. 11. 39. Ame- 
rican Acacia with prickly pods. 
3. Robinia ( Hifpida ) fohis impari-pinnatis, foliolis ova- 
tis, ramis pedunculifque hifpidis. Robinia with unequal 
winged leaves having oval lobes, and the branches and 
foot-Jialks of the flowers armed with flinging [pines. 
Pfeudoacacia hifpida, fioribus rofeis. Catefb. Car. 3. 
p. 20. Stinging falfe Acacia , with a Rofe- coloured flower. 
4. Robinia ( Rofea ) foliis impari-pinnatis, foliolis ova- 
tis acuminatis, ramis nodofis glabris, pedunculis ra- 
cemofis. Robinia with unequal winged leaves, vshofe 
lobes are oval, acute-pointed, knobbed fniooth branches , 
and flowers growing in long bunches. Pfeudoacacia flore 
rofeo. Plum. Cat. Baftard Acacia with a Rofe-coloured 
flower. 
5. Robinia ( Glabra ) foliis impari-pinnatis, foliolis ob- 
longo-ovatis, pedunculis racemofis confertis. Robinia 
with unequal winged leaves having oblong oval lobes, and 
foot-ftalks with long bunches of flowers growing in clitfters. 
Pfeudoacacia arborea fioribus racemofis, filiquis 
compreflis glabris. Llouft. MSS. Tree-like Baftard 
Acacia, with flowers growing in long bunches , and flat 
ftnooth pods. 
6 . Robinia ( Alata ) foliis impari-pinnatis, foliolis ob- 
verse-ovatis, racemis aggregatis axiliaribus, legumi- 
nibus membranaceo-tetragonis. Robinia with unequal 
winged leaves, whofe lobes are obverfeiy oval , long bunches 
of flowers growing in clufters from the Jides of the branches 
and pods having four-winged membranes. Pfeudoacacia 
filiquis alatis. Plum. Cat. 19. Fafle Acacia with wing- 
ed pods. Linnaeus titles it Erythrina foliis pinnatis, 
leguminibus membranaceo-tetragonis. Sp. Plant. 707 
v 
Coral-tree with winged leaves and pods, having four Mem- 
branaceous wings. . 
7. Robinia. ( Pyramidatp, ) folks duplicato-pinnatis, foli- 
olis ovatis fefliiibus, fioribus fpicatis terminalibus. Ro- 
binia with doubly-winged leaves , whofe lobes are oval and 
fit clofe to the midrib , and [pikes of flowers terminating 
the branches. Pfeudoacacia flore pyramidato coccineo. 
Plum. Cat. 19. Falfe. Acacia with a fcarlet- coloured 
flower growing pyramidally. _ 
8. Robinia ( Violacea ) folks pinnatis, foliolis lanceolatis 
oppofitis, racemis axiliaribus pedunculis longioribus. 
Robinia with winged leaves having fpear-Jhaped lobes 
placed oppofite, and long bunches of flowers .on the fides 
of the branches , with longer foot-Jlalks. . Pfeudoacacia 
fraxini folio, fioribus violaceis. Plum. Cat. 19. Falfe 
Acacia with an AJh leaf, and Violet-coloured flowers \ . 
9. Robinia ( Latifolia ) foliis impari-pinnatis, foliolis ob-^ 
longis acuminatis, racemis axiliaribus, leguminibus 
oblongo-ovatis. Robinia with unequal winged leaves, 
having oblong acute-pointed lobes, and bunches of flowers 
proceeding from the Jides of the branches. Pfeudoacacia 
latifolia, filiquis latis. Houft. MSS. Falfe Acacia with 
broad leaves and pods. 
10. Robinia (. Frutefeens ) pedunculis fimplicibus, folks 
quaternatis fubpetiolatis. Hort. Upfal. 212. Robinia 
with fingle foot-ftalks, and leaves growing by fours upon 
Jhort foot-ftalks. Afpalathus frutefeens major latifolius 
cortice aureo. Am. Ruth. 283. Greater , broad-leaved , 
fhrubby Afpalathus, with a golden bark. 
11. Robinia (Caragana) pedunculis fimplicibus, foliis 
abrupte pinnatis. Hort. Upfal. 212. Robinia with 
flmple foot-ftalks, and abrupt winged leaves. Afpala- 
thus arborefeens, pinnis foliorum crebrioribus oblon- 
gis. Amman. Ruth. 285. Tree-like Afpalathus with 
oblong lobes. 
12. Robinia ( Pygmaa ) pedunculis fimplicifiimis, folks 
quaternatis fefliiibus. Hort. Upfal. 2 12. Robinia with 
the moft frnple foot-ftalks , with . four leaves fitting clofe 
to the ftalks. Afpalathus frutefeens minor anguftifo- 
lius, cortice aureo. Amman. Ruth. 282. tab. 35. 
Smaller flerubby Afpalathus, with narrow leaves and a yel- 
low bark. 
The firft fort is the common Pfeudoacacia, which is 
a native of North America * the feeds of this were 
firft brought to Paris from Canada by Monf. Robine, 
and foon after the feeds were brought from Virginia 
to England, and many of the trees were raifed in fe- 
veral gardens, which for fome years, v/hile young, 
were in great efteem *, but as they grew larger, their 
branches were frequently broken by ftrong winds in 
the fummer, which rendered them unfightly, io that 
for feveral years they were feldom planted in gardens ; 
but of late years it is become fafhionable again, and 
great numbers of the trees have been raifed in moft 
parts of England, within a few years paft, fo that 
there are few gardens in which there are not fome of 
thefe trees planted. 
This fort grows to a very large flze in America, 
where the wood is much valued for its duration , moft 
of the houfes which were built at Bofton in New 
England, upon the firft fettling of the Englifh, was 
with this timber, which continues very found at this 
time. 
It grows very fail while young, fo that in a few years 
from feed, the plants rife to eight or ten feet high ; 
and it is not uncommon to fee fhoots of this tree fix 
or eight feet long in one fummer. The branches are 
armed with ftrong crooked thorns, and garnifhed 
with winged leaves compoled of eight or ten pair of 
oval lobes, terminated by an odd one ; they are of a 
bright green, entire, and fit clofe to the midrib. The 
flowers come out from the fide of the branches in 
pretty long bunches, hanging downward like thofe of 
Laburnum, each flower ftanding on a flender foot- 
ftalk. They are of the butterfly or Pea blofibm kind, 
are white, and fmell very fweet. They appear in 
June, and when the trees are well charged with flow- 
ers, they make a fine appearance, and their odour 
perfumes the circumambient air ; but they are of 
(hort duration, feldom continuing more than one week 
la 
51 ^ 
