292 BEAUTIFUL ACACIA FOLIAGE. 



exercise a great influence in preventing the natural 

 formation of humus, or surface mould produced by the 

 decay of vegetable refuse, and thus tend to impoverish 

 and check the general improvement of the soil. 



Where the bush, as is often the case, mostly consists 

 of trees of the mimosa and acacia tribes, many of them 

 are then covered with a profusion of deliciously scented 

 flowers, for which these species are so justly cele- 

 brated; which together with their graceful feathery 

 sprays of tender green leaves, and the verdant carpet 

 of grasses shooting up all around, present a picture 

 which is always most attractive. 



Some of these trees, at this season, are positive mod- 

 els of natural beauty and elegance. Visitors to the 

 South of Europe and the Italian lakes, for instance, 

 will doubtless be familiar with one of the hardier 

 varieties of the acacias, which is largely made use of 

 as an ornament in the gardens there we refer to the 

 Acacia Dealbata, a native of Southern Australia, whose 

 beautiful silvery gray bark, reddish brown twigs, and 

 delicate pinnate foliage constitute a striking object in 

 the shrubberies at these places, which at once arrests 

 the attention. It is a tree which under favourable 

 circumstances grows to a considerable size, and its bark 

 (said to contain a larger percentage of tannin than any 

 other) * forms a tanning substance which, if this plant 

 were more largely cultivated, would doubtless prove of 

 great economic value. It has of late years been 

 largely cultivated in our South African colonies, in 

 consequence. Acacia Lopantha is another lovely foliage 

 plant, young specimens of which give a charming 



* The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom, by Peter 

 L. Simmonds, p. 405 . 



