ABUTILON 



Peru. — A. Bedf or didniun. St. Hil l.vs I.-IumI: fls. yellow with 

 red: verylall. tiviun. — A.nlt.imhn-uin. Dr.n, Pis. large, cream- 

 colored. Maiu-itius. — A.ui(f<7''»- /■',/(//„(, II Mok^■^& Jackson. Index 

 Kewensis. (Sidaiutegerrima, Hook I'. M i:iiiOJ Lvs. entire, cor- 

 date, tomentose below : fls. large, yellow, daring New Granada. 

 — A.pceonicejlbruin. Walpers. Fls. rather small, piuk. Brazil- 



ACACIA 



;j 



hoautifiil plant tit; 



Abutilon mcEapotamici 



— A. pulckUlum, Sweet, and A. pulchnnn, Don.=Plagianthns 

 pnlchellus. — A. vitifdliuin, Presl. Lvs. lobed: fls. wide-spread- 

 ing, light blue (a white-flowered var.): plant one of the hardiest. 

 Chile. B.M. 4227, 7328. Gn. 51:11X7. L. H. B. 



ACACIA (ancient name). Leguminds(^, tribe Mimo- 

 se<E, Shrubs or trees: lvs. twice-pinnate, of many leaf- 

 lets, or reduced to phyllodia or leaf-like petioles, as in 

 Figs. 8 and 9 (except the earlier lvs. of young seedlings, 

 and occasionally those on robust shoots) : fls. yellow or 

 white, minute, in conspicuous globular heads or cylin- 

 drical spikes, axillary, solitary or fasciculate, or diffusely 

 paniculate at the ends of the branches ; stamens very 

 many, exserted. Australia (chiefly) ; afew in N. and S. 

 America, N. and S. Africa and Asia, Ours Australian 

 unless otherwise stated. Prop, by seeds sown under 

 glass as soon as ripe, or by cuttings of half-ripened 

 wood taken with a heel, in summer; the seeds should 

 first be placed in hot water and left to soak 24 hours. 

 The bark of most of the Australian and of souio other 

 species (nii'^eQiSiWy A.pycmoiihu, A . moUi.ssimu and .1. 

 decurrens) abounds in tannins, which may eventually 

 make their cultivation protitabh- in the southwest. For 

 outdoor planting in Calif, and the S., keep in pots until 

 large enough to place in permanent quarters, for they do 

 not transplant well. Several African species yield the 

 g^im arable of commerce, especially A. Senegal. Mono- 

 graphed in part by Baron von Mviller in his Iconography 

 of Australian Acacias, cited here as F. v. M. Icon. 



J. BuRTT Davy. 



Of several hundred known kinds, not more than 50 are 

 in cultivation, and a dozen species will cover those deserv- 

 ing of greenhouse culture, but these few are gems. All 

 of this most important section thrive in'a winter tem- 

 perature ranging from 40° to 50°; in fact, little above 

 the freezing point is sufficient. They do not like heat, 

 and consequently are nut adapted fur forcing. If win- 

 tered cool and allowed tu cunic ah>n^ naturally with the 

 increasing heat and light uf the s])rini^, they will lluwer 

 in March and April, aseasun when their graceful beauty 

 is appreciated in the private conservatory or is valuable 

 to the commercial florist. The prevailing color of all the 

 Australian species is yellow, varying from pale lennm to 

 deep orange. The tall-growing kinds, or rather those in- 

 clined to make long, straight shoots, make excellent sub- 

 jects for planting permanently against a glass partition 

 of a conservatory, or against a pillar. There is scarcely 



j>n!>.sr,'n.s, with its 

 slightly druuping. velh.w r;e-.n,rs. |1 deserves a fa- 

 vured place in every cm. I .■uns, r\ ;.tory . The Acacias are 

 of easy culture. If plautid permanently in the border, 

 provision for drainage should be made. A good, coarse, 

 turfy loam, of not too heavy texture, is all they want, 

 with the addition of a fifth part of leaf-mold or well- 

 rutted spent hups. F'ewM.t' our greenhuuse pests trouble 

 them. Wut.r in alnindaiK-.- ihev like at all times, and in 

 their growing season, whirli is tJie early snininer months, 

 a daily syringing is necessary. Several of the species of 

 bushy habit are very largely grown as |.(.t plants in Eu- 

 rope, and are now largely impurtid and sold tor the east- 

 ern trade. ^4. armata and -.4. Jh-n m iimwlii are good 

 species for this purpose. We believe, with uur hot sum- 

 mers, the commercial man will do better to import than 

 to attempt to grow them from cuttings. The Acacias 

 need pnininir. or thev will suon grow straggling and un- 

 shapeU : murr especiallv is this true uf tliuse gn.wn in 

 puts. After lIo\verint,^<■nt baekthe lea<ling shoots rather 

 severely. Shift intu a larger pot if ruuts demand it, and 

 encourage growth by a genial heat and syringing, giving 

 at same time abundance of light and air. They should 

 be plunged out-of-doors as soon as danger of frost is 

 past, and removed to the greenhouse before any danger 

 of earlv fall frosts. Cuttings root surely but not quickly. 

 The best material is the side shoots frum amain stem 

 in the couditiun that florists call half-ripened — that is, 

 not green and succulent as for a verbena, nor as firm 

 and hard as the wood of a hybrid perpetual rose in Nov. 

 The wood or shoot will be in about the right condition 

 in June. No bottom heat is neede<l, Imt tlie cuttings 

 .should be covered with a close frame and kept moder- 

 ately moist and cool by shading. The following spring 

 these yuung plants can be either planted uut-of -doors, 

 where there is a good chance to keep them well watered, 

 or grown on in pots, as described above. A few of the 

 finest species are -4, piihcsecns., suitable for training on 

 pillars; A. Eimnm makes a bush or can be trained; 

 A. longifo/i'i . an enet sprcies, deserves a permanent 

 position in tlio ^'romhous.- I. order. Of all the species 

 best adapted fur medium-sized, compact pot-plants, A. 

 armata and .4.. Drmnmondii are the best. The former 

 has small, simple, dark green lvs. and globular, pure yel- 

 low fls. ^4. Drnmynondii has drooping, cylindrical, pale 

 lemon fls. As both these flower in March without any 

 forcing in our northern greenhouses, they are very val- 

 uable acquisitions to our Easter plants. The Acacia 

 has two' distinctive charms: the foliage is either small, 

 simple and glaucous, as 'm A. armata, or much divided, 

 graceful and fern-like, as in .4., pubescens. All the Aca- 

 cias are among the freest-flowering of our hard-wooded 

 plants. Cult, by William Scott. 



The species in the American trade are here described 

 under the following numbers: A. acinacea, 7; aueura, 38; 

 angustifolia, 16; Arabica, 49; argyrophylla, 15; armata, 

 5; Baileyana, 45; brachybotrya, 15; calamifolia, 3; Cate- 

 chu, 52; Cavenia, 48; eelastrifolia, 16; cinerascens, 39; 

 cultrata, 12; cultriformis, 12; cuspidata, 1; cyanophylla, 

 20; Cyclops, 32; dealbata, 43; decurrens, 41; diffusa, 1; 

 dodonwiifolia, 10; Drummondii, 53; extensa, 4; falcata, 

 17; falciformis, 18; Farnesiana, 47; fiJicina, 50; genistas- 

 folia, 1; glabra, 15; glaucescens, 39; glaucophylla, 15; 

 grandis, 46; Oreggii, 51; harpophylla, 29 ; hispidissima, 

 46; holosericea, 40; implexa, 30; juncifolia, 2; Lafrohei, 

 7; leptophylla,'^l\ Zff?tcoj;7fyZZa, 40; linearis, 37; lineata, 

 G; linifolia, 14; longifolia, 3G; longissima,2i\ lunata,ll; 

 Meissneri,9; melanoxylon,31; mollissima,42 ; myrtifolia, 

 16; neriifolia, 22; normalis, 16, 41; obliqua, 8; obtusata, 

 21; olecEfolia, 11; Oswaldi, 27; oxycedrus, 33; paradoxa, 

 5; pendula, 28; penninervis, 18; pentcedra,4; pinifolia^ 

 2; pravissima, 13; prominens, 14; pubescens, 44; pul 

 chella, 46; pycnantha, 23; retinodes, 22; Riceana, 35; 

 rostellifera, 25; rotundifoHa,8; salicina,24; saligna, 19; 

 Sophorffi,36; suaveolens, 26; undulata,5; verticillata,34. 



A. In'S. simple; that is, reduced to phyllodia {except 

 the earlier lvs. of yonng seedlings, and occasionally 

 those of robust shoots). I^igs. 7,8 and 9. 

 B. Fls. in globular heads. 

 r. Phi/U. terete, or onhj slightly flattened. 

 1. diJMsa.Lindl. (.4.f/r»;.s7(rro/ia,Link.). A taU, gla- 

 brous shrub: branches angular: phyll. %-l in. long. 



