Paradise Flower 



523 



The fragrant flowers, opening from March to August, are perfect, Kght yellow, 

 in axillary racemes 3 to 5 cm. long, i cm. in 

 diameter; pedicels short, slender, hairy; the 

 calyx is minutely 5-lobed, hairy, about 1.5 

 mm. long; petals spatulate, 3 mm. long; sta- 

 mens numerous, twice the length of the pet- 

 als; ovaty stalked and hairy. The fruit is 

 flat, oblong, slightly curved, 8 to 11 cm. long, 

 2 to 2.5 cm. wide, pointed at the apex, taper- 

 ing to the stout stalk, thick and often wavy 

 on the margin, Hght reddish brown, thin and 

 papery, marked by transverse veins, the seeds 

 transversely attached, narrowly obovate, 6 mm. 

 long, compressed, light brown, with an oval 

 area on each side. 



The wood is hard, close-grained, light 

 brown, its specific gravity is about 0.94. It 

 is largely used and highly esteemed for fuel in 

 its native region. Fie. 483. — Texas Cats-claw. 



2. PARADISE FLOWER— Acacia Greggii A. Gray 



This small tree is also called Catsclaw, Devil's claw, and Ramshom; it occurs 



frequently near our Mexican border, in dry, 

 gravelly soils, from western Texas to southern 

 California, and southward into Mexico, attain- 

 ing a maximum height of 9 meters, with a trunk 

 diameter of 3 dm. 



The branches, bark, and twigs are very simi- 

 lar to those of Acacia Wrightii; the leaves are 

 persistent, evenly bipinnate, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, 

 including the slender leaf-stalk which has a 

 brown gland near the middle; there are i to 3 

 pairs of pinnae 2 to 4 cm. long, and short-stalked ; 

 leaflets 4 to 7 pairs, sessile, obliquely oblong or 

 obovate, 4 to 6 mm. long, rounded, blunt, or 

 short-pointed at the apex, thick and firm, light 

 green, hairy, and prominently veined. The fra- 

 grant, yellowish flowers appear from April to 

 September, in axillary clusters of 2 or 3 dense, 

 hairy spikes 3 to 5 cm. long, i cm. in diameter, 

 the peduncles 1.2 to 1.5 cm. long; the calyx is ses- 

 sile, minutely 5-lobed, somewhat hairy, about 1.5 mm. long; petals broadly spatu- 



FlG. 484. — Paradise Flower. 



