Keyed Out #069 — Robinia pseudoacacia 'Frisia'

Question 1

Each flower is built of five unequal {petals}: one broad blade standing upright at the back, two narrow ones flaring at the sides, and two more joined into a boat that hides the {stamens} and style within.

Accepted Answer

pea family

Question 2

Its dry fruit is one flattened case built from a single {carpel} that splits along both of its edges into two halves, the seeds attached in a row down one edge alone.

Accepted Answer

Fabaceae

Question 3

On vigorous shoots a pair of short, stiff, sharp spines sits one on each side of every leaf base, springing from the {node} itself and never branching.

Accepted Answer

Robinia

Question 4

Its leaves are divided once only, into 7 to 19 oval {leaflets} each 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 cm) long, set in pairs along a central stalk with a single odd one closing the tip.

Accepted Answer

Robinia

Question 5

Its flowers open pure white with only a faint yellow blotch at the base of the upright blade, and the twigs of the current season beneath them are smooth and hairless, neither bristled nor sticky.

Accepted Answer

Robinia pseudoacacia

Question 6

On a mature trunk the bark is dark brown to almost black and cut into deep furrows separating hard, raised ridges that interlace across one another like rope.

Accepted Answer

Robinia pseudoacacia