ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
. .......... _,eipsi
Lin næ u s aga inst Siegesbeck ; au th o r o f Methodus Fun
n um s itu (1764), and many o th e r smaller works.
a professor a t B e rlin , an d d efender of
(1753), S ystema P la n ta r um a S tam i-
Gen. Char. Flowers unisexual from abortion, or hermaphrodite. Calyx of
3—4—5 equal sepals, which are connected toge the r a t th e base into a cupule.
P e ta k equal in number to the sepals, rising from th e tube o f th e
calyx. Stamens equal in number to th e sepals. Style short. Stigma pubescent
above. Legume continuous, furnished with more or less pulp. Seeds
compressed. (Doris Mill.)
Leaves compound, abruptly pinnate, and bipimiate, on th e same tree ; or,
rarely, by th e coalition o f th e leaflets, almost simple, alternate, stipulate,
ueciduous. Flowers greenish, in spikes.— Trees, deciduous, o f th e 1st, 2d,
and 3d ranks ; natives o f N o rth America or China. Branchlets supra-
axillary, and often converted into branched spines. Decaying leaves yellow.
Naked young wood purplish or brownish green.
The species are o f easy culture in good free soil ; and, in Britain, generally
propagated by imported seeds, o r grafting. The species appear to be in a
state o f great confusion in British gardens ; and, judging from the trees in the
H o rt. Soc. Garden, and in th e arboretum o f Messrs. Loddiges, we should
conjecture th a t the re are, probably, n o t m ore than two species, the American
and th e Chinese. T h e Chinese species is distinguished by its tru n k being
more spiny than its branches.
Î 1. G. t b i a c a 'n t i i o s Lin. The three-thorned Gleditschia, or Honey Locust.
Identification. Lin . S p ., 1509. ; D e c. P ro d .. 2. p . 479. ; D o n ’s Mill., 2. p. 428.
S yn o n ym es. G. triac àn th o s var. » p olysperma Mart. Mill. ; G. meliloba W a lt.; G. spinósa D u
Ham. ; xicàcia tria c àn th o s H o r t. ; riicàcia am e ric àn a Plu k . ; F é v ie r d ’Amérique, Fr. ; F av a america
n a, h a i. ; T h o rn y Acacia, Swect L ocust, United States ; Carouge à Miel, Canada.
F.ngravings. Michx. fil. Arb ., 2. p . 164. t. 10. ; W a ts. D end. B rit., t. 138. ; th e p lates o f this species
in Arb. B rit., 1st edit., v o l .v . ; an d o u r 412.
Spec. Char., Sjc. Spines simple or trifid ; sto u t, a t th e very base compressed,
in th e upiier part cylindrical, but tapered. Leaflets linear-oblong. Legumes
flattish, ra th e r crooked, many-seeded, and more than ten times as long as
broad. (Den. Prod.) _ A large tre e . Carolina and Virginia. Height 50 ft.
to 80 ft. Introduced in 1700. Flowers greenish ; Ju n e and July. Legume
brown ; ripe in October. Decaying leaves yellow. Naked young wood
purplish brown.
H G .t . 2 inérmis Dec., G. læ'vis Hort. (Dec. Leg. Mem., 2. t. 22. fig. 109. ;
Catesb. C a ro l, 1. t. 43. ; P luk. Aim., t. 123. fig. 3. ; and th e plates of
this variety in Arb. Brit., 1st edit., vol. v .), has the stem and branches
no t spiny, or but very sparingly so.
i G. t. a brachycàrpa. G. brachycàrpa Pursh, G. triacànthos var. /3
Michx. — Leaflets oblong obtuse. Spines thick, short, n o t rarely 3
together.' Legmines oblong, short.
The tru n k and branches, when th e tre e is young, are covered with large
prickles, which, though they are n o t ligneous, become hard, and remain on for
several years, and offer a formidable defence. These prickles are n o t only
produced by th e young wood, but occasionally p rotrude themselves from th e
tru n k , even w'hen th e tre e is o f considerable bulk and age. In general, th e
tru n k presents a twisted appearance, and th e branches proceed from it ra th e r
horizontally than in an upright direction. The pinnated foliage is particularlv
elegant, and o f an agreeable light shining green : it appears late in spring, the
trees in the neighbourhood of London sometimes n o t being fully clothed till
th e middle or end o f J u n e ; and it begins to tu rn yellow, and drop off, early
in autumn. The flowers are inconspicuous'; the male flowers being in th e
form o f catkin-like racemes of nearly the same colour as the leaves. Some
trees in th e grounds a t Syon have ripened seeds, the pods containing which,
being 1 ft. to 2 ft. in length, and remaining on th e trees after th e leaves a re off,
have a singular appearance. These crooked pendulous pods a re o f a reddish
4 1 2 . G le d itsc h ia tr ia c à n th o s .
brown colour ; th e y contain hard, smooth, brown seeds, enveloped in a pulpy
substance, which, for a bout a month after the maturity o f th e seeds, is
very sweet, b u t after a few weeks becomes extremely sour. The ra te of
growth o f this tree, for th e first 15 or 80 years, is generally about the average
of a foot a year ; b u t in favourable situations it will grow a t double th a t rate.
In th e garden o f th e H o rt. Soc., and in th e arboretum of th e Messrs. Loddiges,
plants 10 years planted were, in 1835, from 20 ft. to 25 ft. in height.
The wood o f this tre e , when dry, weighs a t th e ra te o f 52 lb. the cubic foot ;
it is very hard, and splits with great facility, resembling in this and o th e r respects
th e wood o f the robinia ; b u t its grain is coarser, and its pores more
open. In B ritain, this, and all th e kinds o f th e genus, can only be considered
as ornamental tre e s ; b u t in th a t character they hold the first ra n k ; their delicate
acacia-like foliage, an d th e singularly varied, graceful, and picturesque
forms assumed by th e tree, more especially when young or middle-aged, to gether
with the singular feature afforded by its spines, will always recommend
it in ornamental plantations. I t requires a deep, rich, free soil, and a situation
not exposed to high winds ; and it requires th e South o f England or France
to ripen th e seeds. T h e species is always propagated by seeds imjiorted from
America, or from France or Italy. The plants are best transplanted to where
they are finally to remain when quite young ; as they make but few fibrous
roots, and these take, for th e most p a rt, a descending direction. The variety
G. t. inérmis can only be insured by grafting on th e species. In general, however,
abundance o f plants without spines may be selected from beds o f seedlings
of G. triacànthos.
¥ 2. G. ( t . ) m o n o s p e r m a Walt. T h e one-seeded Gleditschia, or Water
Locust.
Identification. W a lt. C a r., 254. ; De c. P ro d ., 2. p. 479. ; D o n ’s Mill., 2. p. 428.
Synonymes. G. carolinênsis Dici. 2. p. 464. ; G. aq u à tic a MarsA. : G. t ria c à n th a Gcert. Fruct.
2. p. 149.
Engravings. Mill. Icon., 5. ; an d o u r 413. ; in which th e male flower, th e pod, an d th e s e e d .a re
of th e n a tu ra l size.
Spec, Char., 4'c. Spines slender, n o t rarely trifid, few. Leaflets ovate-oblong,
acute. Legumes flattish, roundish, 1-seeded. (Dee. Prod.) A tre e o f th e
largest size. Native o f Carolina, Florida, and the Illinois, in moist woods.
Height 6 0 f t. to 8 0 ft. Introduced in 1723. Flowers g re en ish ; Ju n e and
July. Legume n o t seen in England.
Closely resembles th e honey locust, from which, in England, where neither
of them ripens seeds, it is almost impossible to distinguish it. The bark,