102 GARDEN FLOWER^. 



brandies reach the height of a hundred feet. 

 It grows well in the neighbourhood of London, 

 and is, with the lilac and the laburnum, among 

 the commonest flowering trees in the gardens of 

 the villages around the metropolis. It is one 

 of the first trees which reached us from the 

 American forests, and it has always been valued 

 there for its hard and durable wood. Cattle 

 are very fond of the young shoots, and some 

 botanists have recomm.ended the culture of the 

 plant for forage. Their nutriment is owing to 

 a saccharine principle, which exists also in the 

 roots. With us its flowers are ornamental, and 

 very pleasing by their fragrance, while the 

 natives of St. Domingo make from them a dis- 

 tilled liquor, said to have a very agreeable 

 flavour'. 



The false acacia has so long been termed 

 acacia, that it is often confounded with the true 

 plants of that name, which, however, are very 

 different in appearance. These latter flowers 

 are called in Austraha by the general name of 

 wattles. More than three hundred kinds have 

 been introduced into England, but few species 

 remain in culture. The greater number of 

 these are natives of New Holland ; they are 

 nearly all evergreens, and their flowers are Httle 

 yellow balls or tufts, Uke down. The gum 

 arable of commerce is derived from the acacia 

 vera, a plant found in every part of Africa. In 

 our country they nearly all require to be 

 treated as greenhouse plants, and several are 

 commonly planted in pots and kept in rooms. 



