A beautiful tree, 20 to 50 ft.
high, with very smooth grayish bark; rarely cultivated.

GENUS =31. ROBINIA.=

Trees or shrubs with alternate, odd-pinnate leaves, having spines on
each side of the stalk in place of stipules. Leafstalk thickened near
the base, and covering 2 to 3 buds for the growth of a branch for the
next year. An axillary bud also found that may produce a branch the same
year as the leaf. Flowers large, pea-blossom-shaped, in large clusters.
Fruit a pea-shaped pod.

* Branchlets and leafstalks not sticky 1.

* Branchlets and leafstalks sticky 2.

[Illustration: R. Pseudacacia.]

1. =Robinia Pseudacacia=, L. (COMMON LOCUST.) Leaflets 9 to 19, small,
oblong-ovate, entire, thin. Twigs purplish-brown, slender, smooth, not
sticky. Flowers white, fragrant, in hanging racemes, 3 to 6 in. long.
June. Pods flat, smooth, purplish-brown, ripe in September. An
irregularly growing, slender tree, 70 to 80 ft. high, with white or
greenish-yellow, very durable wood, and on old trees very rough bark
with long, deep furrows. Native; Pennsylvania, west and south, and
extensively planted and naturalized throughout. A number of varieties,
some of which are thornless, are in cultivation.

[Illustration: R. viscosa.]

2. =Robinia viscosa=, Vent. (CLAMMY LOCUST.) Leaflets 11 to 25,
ovate-oblong, sometimes slightly heart-shaped at base, tipped with a
short bristle. Twigs and leafstalks sticky to the touch. Flowers in a
short, rather compact, upright raceme, rose-colored and inodorous. A
small tree, 30 to 40 ft. high; native south, and has been quite
extensively cultivated north.

3. =Robinia hispida=, L. (BRISTLY LOCUST. ROSE-ACACIA.), with bristly
leafstalks and branchlets, and large rose-colored flowers, is only a
bush. Often cultivated. Wild from Virginia and south.

GENUS =32. CERCIS.=

Small trees or shrubs, with alternate, simple, heart-shaped leaves.
Flowers in umbel-like clusters along the branches, appearing before the
leaves, and shaped like pea-blossoms. Fruit pea-like pods, remaining on
the tree throughout the year. Wood hard, heavy, and beautifully blotched
or waved with black, green, and yellow, on a gray ground.

[Illustration: C. Canadensis.]

1. =Cercis Canadensis=, L. (JUDAS-TREE. REDBUD.) Leaves acutely pointed,
smooth, dark green, glossy. Flowers bright red-purple. Pods nearly
sessile, 3 to 4 in. long, brown when ripe in A