Trees of the Northern United States Part 18

[Ill.u.s.tration: R. Osbeckii.]

5. =Rhus...o...b..ckii=, DC. (CHINESE SUMAC.) Leaves very large, pinnate, a.s.suming in autumn a rich reddish-fawn or orange color; the leafstalk broadly winged between the leaflets; leaflets serrate. A small ornamental tree, 10 to 25 ft. high; cultivated; from China; quite hardy in the Northern States.

[Ill.u.s.tration: R. Cotinus.]

6. =Rhus Cotinus=, L. (SMOKE-TREE. VENETIAN SUMAC.) Leaves smooth, obovate, entire, on slender petioles. Flowers greenish, minute, in terminal or axillary panicles. Fruit seldom found. Usually most of the flowers are abortive, while their pedicels lengthen, branch, and form long feather-like hairs, making large cloud-like branches that look somewhat like smoke (whence the name). A shrub or small tree, 6 to 10 ft. high, often planted for ornament; from Europe.

[Ill.u.s.tration: R. cotinodes.]

7. =Rhus cotinodes=, Nutt. (AMERICAN SMOKE-TREE.) Leaves thin, oval, obtuse, entire, acute at base, 3 to 6 in. long, smooth or nearly so.

Flowers and fruit like those of the cultivated species (Rhus Cotinus). A tree 20 to 40 ft. high; stem sometimes a foot or more in diameter in the Southern States; wild in Tennessee, west and south. Rare in cultivation.

ORDER =XVII. LEGUMINOSae.= (PULSE FAMILY.)

A very large order of plants, mainly herbaceous; found in all climates.

A few are shrubby, and others are from small to large trees.

GENUS =28. LABuRNUM.=

Low trees or shrubs with alternate, palmate leaves of three leaflets.

Flowers conspicuous, pea-blossom-shaped, in long hanging racemes, in late spring. Fruit pea-pod-shaped, dark brown, and many-seeded; ripe in autumn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: L. vulgare.]

=Laburnum vulgare.= (LABURNUM. GOLDEN-CHAIN. BEAN-TREFOIL TREE.) Leaves petiolate, with 3 ovate-lanceolate leaflets, p.u.b.escent beneath. Flowers bright yellow, nearly 1 in. long, in long (1 ft.), pendulous, simple racemes; in late spring. Pods 2 in. long, linear, many-seeded, covered with closely appressed p.u.b.escence; one edge thick; ripe in autumn. A low, very ornamental tree, 10 to 20 ft. high, often cultivated; from Switzerland. Varieties with reddish, purple, and white flowers are also in cultivation.

Var. _alpinus_ has smooth pods.

GENUS =29. CARAGaNA.=

Leaves alternate, deciduous, abruptly once-pinnate; leaflets mucronate; stipules usually spinescent. Flowers pea-flower-shaped, mostly yellow.

Trees or shrubs of Asia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. arborescens.]

=Caragana arborescens=, Larn. (PEA-TREE.) Leaves with 4 to 6 pairs of oval-oblong, mucronate-pointed, hairy leaflets; petioles unarmed; stipules spinescent. Flowers yellow, blooming in May. Pods brown, ripe in August. A low, stiff, erect tree, 10 to 15 ft. high; in poor soil a bush. From Siberia; frequent in cultivation.

GENUS =30. CLADRaSTIS.=

Small tree with alternate, odd-pinnate leaves, the base of the petiole hollow, and inclosing the leaf-buds of the next year. Flowers large, pea-blossom-like in shape, in large cl.u.s.ters. Fruit pea-pod-like in shape and size. Wood light yellow, firm and hard.

[Ill.u.s.tration: C. tinctria.]

=Cladrastis tinctria=, Raf. (YELLOW-WOOD.) Leaflets 7 to 11, oval to ovate, 3 to 4 in. long, beautiful light green in color. Flowers 1 in.

long, white, not so fragrant as the common Locust, in hanging panicles 10 to 20 in. long; blooming in June. Pods 2 in. long, ripe in August.

Wild but rare in Kentucky and south. 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 cl.u.s.ters.

Fruit a pea-shaped pod.

* Branchlets and leafstalks not sticky 1.

* Branchlets and leafstalks sticky 2.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: R. viscsa.]

2. =Robinia viscsa=, 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 cl.u.s.ters 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 August. A small ornamental tree, 10 to 30 ft. high, with smooth bark and hard apple-tree-like wood; wild from Central New York southward, and often cultivated.

2. =Cercis siliquastrum= (EUROPEAN JUDAS-TREE.), from Europe, with obtusely pointed, somewhat kidney-shaped leaves, and white to purple flowers, is sometimes cultivated. It is not so tall or tree-like as the American species.

GENUS =33. GYMNoCLADUS.=

Tall trees with alternate, very large (2 to 4 ft. long), unequally twice-pinnate leaves. Flowers white, conspicuous, in racemes at the ends of the branches. Fruit a large pea-like pod. Some trees are without fruit through the abortion of the pistils.

[Ill.u.s.tration: G. Canadensis.]

=Gymnocladus Canadensis=, Lam. (KENTUCKY COFFEE-TREE.) Leaves 2 to 3 ft.

long, often with the lower pinnae simple and the upper pinnate. Leaflets ovate, of a dull bluish-green color. Shoots cane-like, blunt and stubby, quite erect. Bark exceedingly rough. Pod large, 6 to 10 in. long, 2 in.

broad, with seeds over in. across. A large (50 to 80 ft. high) tree with compact, tough, reddish wood. Wild from western New York southwestward, and occasionally cultivated as an ornamental tree.

GENUS =34. GLEDiTSCHIA.=