Notes.—This tree is chiefly ornamental. Its profuse purplish flowers give it attractiveness early in the spring, when the Service and Flowering Dogwood are in bloom.
COMMON LOCUST
Robinia Pseudo-Acacia, L.
Form.—Height 50-75 feet, diameter 2-3 feet; trunk when grown in the forest often tall and free from limbs; crown loose and more or less irregular.
Leaves.—Alternate, compound, odd-pinnate, 8-14 inches long; leaflets 7-21, ovate or oblong, 1-2 inches long, entire, very thin, smooth, dull green above, paler beneath; stipules thorny or spine-like.
Flowers.—May, after the leaves; perfect, pea-shaped, white, very fragrant, borne on slender pedicels in loose drooping racemes 4-5 inches long.
Fruit.—A flat pod 3-4 inches long, containing 4-8 small brown seeds.
Bark.—Deeply furrowed into firm, prominent ridges, reddish-brown.