22 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



continuous within or variously divided, very rarely separating into one-seeded 

 joints, the seeds usually ovate, compressed, without albumen and with thick 

 crustaceous testa. 



Genus composed of over 400 species of trees, shrubs and a few herbs of warmer 

 climates, and especially of Australia. About a dozen species are found native in 

 southwestern United States. The name is thought to be derived from the Greek 

 dicdtw, to sharpen, alluding to the spines with which many of the species are 

 armed. 



227. ACACIA MOLLISSIMA, WILLD. 



SILVER WATTLE. BLACK WATTLE. 

 Ger., Silberige Acacie; Fr., Acacia & argent; Sp., Acacia plateada. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: Leaves bipinnate, of 8-15 pairs of pinnae with numer- 

 ous narrow crowded leaflets 2-3 lines long ; branchlets with angles decurrent 

 from the petioles only slightly prominent, pubescent, and the young shoots of a 

 yellowish tint. Flowers (December-March) fragrant, in terminal axillary 

 panicled globular heads. Fruit pods flat, mostly less than 4 lines thick, more or 

 less constricted between the seeds. 



The specific name, mollissima, is the Latin for "most delicate," aptly descrip- 

 tive of the foliage of the tree. 



A beautiful small or medium size tree with round top and graceful, 

 delicate feathery foliage. The trunk is sometimes 18 in. (0.45 m.) in 

 diameter, with quite smooth grayish brown bark about 1 in. in 

 thickness. 



HABITAT. The native home of the Silver Wattle is in Tasmania and 

 Victoria; less commonly the northern districts of New South Wales, 

 It has become naturalized in at least the central coast region of Cali- 

 fornia and thrives in almost all kinds of soils. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood rather heavy and hard, strong, with 

 quite uniformly distributed ducts, with fine medullary rays, of flexuous 

 grain and indistinct annual rings. It is of a rather pale reddish brown 

 color with lighter narrow sap-wood. 



USES. The points of utility of this tree are practically the same as 

 those of the closely related Acacia decurrens. The wood makes an 

 excellent fuel, and is adapted to use in cooperage, for tool handles, 

 etc. The bark is rich in tannin, and the delightfully fragrant flowers 

 find ready sale in the city markets. For ornamental purposes in door 

 yards and parks the tree has few equals, and for reclaiming waste 

 lands in the arid regions it is of marked value. 



MEDICINAL PROPERTIES are found in the tannin, which the bark 

 yields in considerable abundance, and in a gum arabic of rather 

 inferior quality which the tree produces. 



ORDER CACTACE.2E: CACTUS FAMILY. 



Leaves generally wanting, sometimes minute and deciduous (rarely perfect, 

 flat, and petiolate); stems green, fleshy, covered with tubercles, cylindrical, flat, 

 or variously angled, channelled or winged, elongated, simple or branched or glo- 

 bose, with thick usually green bark and loose cellular tissue, without stipules, 



