136 FAMILIAR TREES 



San Domingo an excellent liqueur is prepared from 

 the blossoms. 



The flowers are succeeded by pods, about three 

 inches long, which ripen to a dark brown, and each 

 contains from five to six brownish black seeds, which 

 ripen readily in this country. 



The tree has but few enemies here, though in 

 America its timber sometimes suffers considerably 

 from the ravages of a larva (Cos'sus robin'ioB) allied to 

 our own goat-moth. Hares and rabbits devour the 

 bark when young, and cattle are fond of the leaves, 

 which they manage to eat, when within reach, in 

 spite of the prickly stipules. The Acacia will not, 

 however, serve as a cover for game, being intolerant 

 either of shade or of the drip of other trees. Its 

 moist, quick-growing sap-wood and succulent foliage 

 have caused it to be strongly recommended for the 

 planting of railway embankments in forest areas, so 

 as to intercept the sparks before they can spread to 

 more inflammable timber-trees, such as the Firs. On 

 the Continent it is largely grown as a hedgerow 

 tree. 



We have many fine specimens in England, es- 

 pecially at Syon House, Claremont, and Goodwood, 

 whilst Loudon mentions one at Niddrie Mareschal, 

 near Edinburgh, four feet in diameter at the base 

 of its stem. 



Though it becomes straggling from a habit of 

 dying piecemeal when by no means an old tree, the 

 airy lightness of its sprays of pure green foliage 

 certainly renders the Acacia one of the most desirable 

 of our town trees. 



