''Robinia'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of flowering plants in the family

Fabaceae Fabaceae () or Leguminosae,International Code of Nomen ...

, tribe

Robinieae The tribe Robinieae is one of the subdivisions of the plant family Fabaceae and the currently unranked taxon Robinioids. The following genera are recognized by the USDA: * ''Coursetia'' DC. 1825 * '' Genistidium'' I. M. Johnst. 1941 * '' Gliric ...

, native to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Commonly known as locusts, they are

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

trees and shrubs growing tall. The leaves are

pinnate Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and ...

with 7–21 oval leaflets. The flowers are white or pink, in usually pendulous

raceme A raceme () or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate growth, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are ...

s. Many species have thorny shoots, and several have sticky hairs on the shoots. The genus is named after the royal French gardeners Jean Robin and his son Vespasien Robin, who introduced the plant to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in 1601. The number of species is disputed between different authorities, with as few as four recognised by some authors, while others recognise up to 10 species. Several natural hybrids are also known. Some species of ''Robinia'' are used as food by

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder ...

s of

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) or lepidopterans is an order (biology), order of winged insects which includes butterflies and moths. About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera have been described, representing 10% of the total described species of living organ ...

, including such moths as the brown-tail ('' Euproctis chrysorrhoea''), the buff-tip (''

Phalera bucephala The buff-tip (''Phalera bucephala'') is a moth of the family Notodontidae. It is found throughout Europe and in Asia to eastern Siberia. The species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Descrip ...

''), the engrailed ('' Ectropis crepuscularia''), the giant leopard moth ('' Hypercompe scribonia''), the locust underwing ('' Euparthenos nubilis''), and

Gracillariidae Gracillariidae is an important family of insects in the order Lepidoptera and the principal family of leaf miners that includes several economic, horticultural or recently invasive pest species such as the horse-chestnut leaf miner, ''Cameraria ...

leaf miner A leaf miner is any one of numerous species of insects in which the larval stage lives in, and eats, the leaf tissue of plants. The vast majority of leaf-mining insects are moths (Lepidoptera), sawflies (Symphyta, a paraphyletic group which ...

s like '' Chrysaster ostensackenella'', '' Macrosaccus robiniella'' and '' Parectopa robiniella''.

Toxicity

All species produce toxic

lectin Lectins are carbohydrate-binding proteins that are highly specific for sugar Moiety (chemistry), groups that are part of other molecules, so cause agglutination (biology), agglutination of particular cells or precipitation of glycoconjugates an ...

s, throughout the entire plant, with the exception of the flowers. The flowers are used in teas and in

pancake A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based Batter (cooking), batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a ...

s, and are consumed as

fritter A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, or other ingredients which have been Batter (cooking), battered or breading, breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-frying, deep-fried. Fritters ar ...

s in many parts of Europe.

Species

*''

Robinia hispida ''Robinia hispida'', known as the bristly locust, rose-acacia, or moss locust, is a shrub in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, and it is present in other areas, including other reg ...

'' – bristly locust **''Robinia hispida'' var. ''rosea'' (syn. ''R. boyntonii'') **''Robinia hispida'' var. ''nana'' (syns. ''R. elliottii'' & ''R. nana'') **''Robinia hispida'' var. ''kelseyi'' (syn. ''R. kelseyi'') *'' Robinia neomexicana'' (syn. ''R. luxurians'') – New Mexican locust *''

Robinia pseudoacacia ''Robinia pseudoacacia'', commonly known as black locust, is a medium-sized hardwood deciduous tree, belonging to the tribe Robinieae of the legume family Fabaceae. It is native to a few small areas of the United States, but it has been widely pl ...

'' – black locust, false acacia *'' Robinia viscosa'' – clammy locust **''Robinia viscosa'' var. ''hartwegii''''R. viscosa'' var. ''hartwegii''.
ITIS. (syn. ''R. hartwegii'' or ''R. hartwigii''E. Koehne. 1913. Eine neue Robinie
/ref>) * †'' Robinia zirkelii''

Hybrids

* ''Robinia'' × ''ambigua'' (''R. pseudoacacia'' × ''R. viscosa'') – Idaho locust * ''Robinia'' × ''holdtii'' (''R. neomexicana'' × ''R. pseudoacacia'') * ''Robinia'' × ''longiloba'' (''R. hispida'' × ''R. viscosa'') * ''Robinia'' × ''margarettiae'' (''R. hispida'' × ''R. pseudoacacia'')

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Robinieae Fabaceae genera Melliferous flowers Flora of Northern America Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus