R. cotinoìdes.
7. Rhús cotinoìdes, 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. LEGUMINOSÆ. (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. LABÚRNUM.
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.
L. vulgàre.
Labúrnum vulgàre. (Laburnum. Golden-chain. Bean-trefoil Tree.) Leaves petiolate, with 3 ovate-lanceolate leaflets, pubescent 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 pubescence; 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.