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.

[Illustration: L. vulgare.]

=Laburnum vulgare.= (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.

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.

[Illustration: 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 clusters. Fruit pea-pod-like in
shape and size. Wood light yellow, firm and hard.

[Illustration: C. tinctoria.]

=Cladrastis tinctoria=, 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.