116 ACACIA GKANDIS. 



Some years since, Mr. Bentham enumerated no fewer than 340 species of Acacia ; 

 and from the numerous subsequent additions to the genus, it now comprises at least 

 400 species. They are divided by Botanists into two groups : the first includes the 

 species with pinnated leaves ; and the second, those in which the true leaves are 

 absent, their place and functions being supplied by the peculiarly developed leaf- 

 stalk or petiole, which is furnished with a leaf-like expansion, varying greatly in 

 form, termed a pnyllodium. The pinnated species are widely spread throughout the 

 tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and America ; but requiring, as most of them do, 

 not only the temperature of the stove, but also a greater amount of space than can 

 usually be afforded them, these tender species are rarely seen in cultivation in this 

 country. Those of them which adorn our conservatories and greenhouses in spring, 

 are chiefly natives of New Holland, of the flora of which country both the pinnated 

 Acacias and the leafless section form one of the most striking features. The 

 Phyllode-bearing division of the genus, of which the common Acacia armata is an 

 example, is, we believe, peculiar to Australia, to whose arid climate they are 

 especially adapted. Both sections contain a considerable number of species, 

 remarkable for their elegant and graceful habit, and the abundance of their fragrant 

 flowers. The airy foliage of the pinnated species imparts, however, a charm often 

 wanting in the leafless section ; and it is, therefore, from the first division of the 

 genus that our illustration has been selected. We hope, however, on another 

 occasion, to have the opportunity of showing that the other species are scarcely less 

 attractive in an ornamental point of view, and fully equal to them in botanical 

 interest. 



The Acacia grandis is a recently imported species, and is, doubtless, a native 

 of New Holland, thought we are unacquainted with its history. It forms a 

 shrub of moderate size, and flowers freely while small. The stems are angular, 

 grooved, and covered with long spreading hairs. The leaves consist of two pinna, 

 articulated at their base, each pinna being about an inch long, and composed 

 of from eight to ten pairs of linear, alternate smooth, leaflets, the rachis or stalk 

 to which they are attached being flattened, and terminated by a small leafy point. 



At the junction of the pinnae with the branch, several curious appendages 

 arise which deserve attention. First, between the two pinna will be found a 

 short thread-like prolongation of the petiole, terminating in a little globular 

 head : next, a minute gland-like body, which is apparently an abortive flower 

 bud ; then either one or two small cup-like involucres, out of which the flower 

 stalks arise ; fourthly, an articulated woody spine, about half an inch long ; and, 

 lastly, at the base ef the leaf are two bristly stipules, and occasionally a third, 

 beneath the prolonged petiole first mentioned. The flower heads are generally in 

 pairs, on smooth stalks about three-quarters of an inch in length, and are very 

 numerously produced. 



