LEGUMINOSiE.
55
CLADRASTIS.
Flowers in ample terminal panicles; calyx 5-toothed, the teeth imbricated inEstivation; corolla papilionaceous ; stamens distinct; ovary stipitate, many-ovuled.legume linear-compressed, tardily dehiscent. Leaves unequally pinnate, destitute°f stipules.
^adrastis, Rafinesque , Neogen. 1. — Endlicher, Gen. 1309. — Bentham & Hooker, Gen. i. 554 (excl. Maackia). — Baillon,Sist. Pi. 361 (excl. Maackia).
A tree, with copious watery juice, smooth gray bark, slender slightly zigzag terete branchlets,^frapetiolar buds, and fibrous roots. Buds four together, superposed, flattened by mutual pressurelllto an acuminate cone, covered individually with thin lanceolate scales coated with lustrous brownMomentum, and inclosed collectively in the hollow base of the petiole, the largest and upper one only^veioping^ the lowest minute and rudimentary. Leaves alternate, petiolate, the stout terete petiolesru P% enlarged at the base, seven to eleven-foliolate, deciduous; leaflets usually alternate, broadly
the terminal one rhomboid-ovate, contracted at the apex into a short, broad point, wedge-shapedk as e, entire, petiolulate, destitute of stipels, covered at first like the young shoots with fineth 6r ^ ° r ° n ^ ie shghtly rufous pubescence, at maturity thin, glabrous, dark yellow-green on
Upper, and pale on the lower surface, the midribs and numerous primary veins conspicuous, deeplyg °°ved above, light yellow below. Flowers in long graceful nodding terminal panicles, the lowerranches racemose and often springing from the axils of solitary flowers, the main axis slightly zigzag^a( l, like the branches, covered at first with a glaucous bloom, and slightly pilose. Bracts lanceolate,^ ail °us, early deciduous. Pedicels solitary, slender, puberulous, hibracteolate near the middle, the
actlets scarious, minute, caducous. Calyx cylindrical-campanulate, enlarged on the upper side,^ ( l u ely obconic at the base, puberulous within and without, the teeth nearly equal, short, anduse, the two upper subconnate. Disk cupuliform, adnate to the interior of the calyx-tube. Petals^ 1 e ? nnguiculate ; standard nearly orbicular, entire or slightly emarginate, reflexed above the middle,re ly longer than the straight oblong wings, slightly bi-auriculate at the base of the blade, markedn the inner surface with a pale yellow blotch; keel-petals free, oblong, nearly straight, obtuse, slightlyCOrtlate °r bi-auriculate at the base. Stamens ten, free; filaments filiform, slightly incurved nearsummit, glabrous; anthers attached on the back at the middle, versatile, two-celled, the cellsP uing longitudinally. Ovary linear, stipitate, bright red, villose with long pale hairs, many-ovuled,fracted into a long slender glabrous slightly incurved subulate style; stigma terminal, minute;^ es su spended from the inner angle of the ovary, superposed, amphitropous, the micropyle superior.y®gume Serous, short-stalked, linear-compressed, the upper margin slightly thickened, tipped withremnants of the persistent style, four to six-seeded, ultimately dehiscent, the valves tlun anduibranaceous. Seed oblong-compressed, scarcely strophiolate, destitute of albumen, attached bylender funiele; testa thin, membranaceous, dark brown. Embryo filling the cavity of the seed;yledons fleshy, oblong, flat; radicle short, inflexed.
The wood of Cladrastis is heavy, very hard, strong, and close-grained, with a smooth satinysurface capable of receiving a good polish, the layers of annual growth being clearly marked by severals °f open ducts. In color it is bright clear yellow changing to light brown on exposure, the thina Pwood being almost white. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.6278, a cubic foot^ ei ghiug 39.12 pounds. It is used for fuel and occasionally for gun-stocks, and yields a clear yellow
UV©, rpi
J.ne genus is not known to possess other useful properties.