LOCUST; ACACIA; YELLOW LOCUST (Robinia Pseudacacia, Linn.). 40 to 80 feet. Tall, slender tree with narrow, oblong head of small, brittle branches. Bark rough, dark gray, deeply furrowed, the ridges checked into squares. Wood brown, tinged with yellow, hard, coarse-grained, heavy, dur able in soil. Buds pointed, small, silky, all but tip hidden in ridged twig. Leaves alternate, compound, 8 to 14 inches long, of 9 to 19 oval leaflets, silvery pubescent at first, becoming smooth, blue-green, pale beneath, turning yellow in autumn; stipules at base of leaf paired, spiny, persistent, becoming stout thorns on older branches. Flowers white, of
the pea-blossom type, perfect, with distinct parts, fragrant, in axillary, drooping, loose racemes, 4 to 5 inches long. May June. Fruit clusters of thin, brown, smooth, 4 to 8-seeded pods, 3 to 4 inches long, inch wide, 2-valved, persistent through winter. Dist.: Pennsylvania to Georgia; west to Iowa and Oklahoma. Naturalized in New England, and New York, and west of Rocky Mountains. Planted for posts and railroad ties, and for building of boats and ships. Superior wood for mill cogs, wagon hubs, spokes, and tree nails. FiLe fuel.