ACACIA. 
British nurseries :—A. armata, a 
most useful plant for windows and 
balconies, from its hardiness, its 
compact, simple, dark green leaves, 
or phyllodia, and the great abun- 
dance of its yellow ball-like flowers ; 
it requires care, however, in syring- 
ing the leaves, as it is very apt to 
be infested with insects: A. alata, 
a curious species with winged stems ; 
A. decipiens, with small angular 
leaves; A. diffisa, a dwarf plant 
with small flowers; A. hy brida, 
very fragrant; A. longifolia, with 
very long leaves, and the flowers 
not in balls, but in long close spikes ; 
A. pubéscens, a very elegant species 
with drooping branches, bipinnate 
leaves, and the ball-like flowers dis- 
posed in racemes; A. nigricans, 
with blackish green foliage ; A. ver- 
ticillata, with the leaves like spines, 
and disposed in whorls; A. lophan- 
tha, with bipinnate leaves, and long 
spike-like whitish flowers; A. deal- 
bata, Cunningham, the A. affinis 
of some, remarkable for the delicacy 
of its foliage, and the whitish bloom 
which covers its trunk and branches; 
and A. melondzylon, the Black 
Wood, or Black Wattle of the Aus- 
tralians, the dilated petioles or phyl- 
lodia of which lock like leaves, with 
the real leaves, which are bipinnate, 
attached to their extremities. Of 
the other kinds of Acacia, the har- 
diest are A. acanthocarpa, a native 
of Mexico, with pale pink flowers 
and spiny pods; and A. Julibrissin, 
the Silk tree, a native of Persia, and 
one of the most beautiful small trees 
that can be imagined: the flowers 
are like long silk tassels, and they 
vary from a pale pink, or rose color, 
to a delicate lilach ; but they seldom 
attain perfection in the open air in 
England for want of heat in our 
summers, though they are extreme- 
ly beautiful in Italy. Of the stove 
species, the handsomest are A. spe- 
cidsa, A. grandiflora, A. Houstoni, 
and A. scandens; and they should 
102 
ACACIA. 
all be kept in the coolest and most 
airy part of the stove. A. véra, the 
Gum Arabic tree, A. Catechu, from 
the unripe pods of which is made 
the substance called terra japonica, 
and A. Senégal, the Gum Senegal 
tree, are only interesting for their 
products. 
All the kinds of Acacia require 
to be grown in sandy loan, or in a 
mixture of sand, peat, and leaf- 
mould, well drained. They are 
generally propagated by imported 
seeds (though some of the species 
have ripened seed in this country ;) 
and the seeds are sometimes two, 
or even three years in the ground 
before they come up. To hasten 
their vegetation, they may be steep- 
ed in very hot water, and left in 
the water for several days, or in 
oxalic acid and water, and some- 
times even boiled for a minute or 
two, or a little bit may be cut or 
scraped off just at the scar on the 
seed ; and when prepared by any 
of these modes, they will generally 
come up in about a week or a fort- 
night. Acacias may also be pro- 
pagated by cuttings; but as these 
are rather difficult to strike, they 
should be put into a pot filled with 
pure white sand, covered closely 
with a beil-glass, and then plunged 
into a hotbed. ‘The tenderer spe. 
cies may also be grafted on A. deal. 
bata, A. lophantha, and A. melo- 
noxylon, which appear to be the 
hardiest kinds. All these three 
species will generally spring up 
again from the root, when killed 
down to the ground by frost; and 
whenever this is the case, it indi- 
cates that the plants may be propa- 
gated by cuttings of the roots, which 
is frequently done with these Aca. 
cias. All the roots of the Austra- 
lian species smell like Garlic, and 
this smell is very perceptible on en. 
tering a room where any of these 
plants are kept, if it has been shut 
up fora few days. For this reason, 
