448 THE VEGETABLE WORLD. 
year 1601. It is a tree of great size, terminated by an ample 
rotund head, with spreading branches ; its russet bark is marked 
with deep longitudinal crevices; its branches are supplied with 
spines in the shape of strong prickles; its leaves are composed of 
numerous oblong leaflets; and its white and very odorous flowers 
are disposed in well-furnished hanging bunches (Fig. 416). 
Let us see what is the structure of the flower of the Acacia. 
The calyx, which is composed of five petals, is nearly cam- 
panulate, almost bilobate, with upper lip truncate, or emarginate 
and bidentate. The lower lip is bifid. The corolla is composed 
of five petals. According to the expression used by botanists, it 
is said to be “ papilionaceous.” That part of the corolla called the 
“ standard ’’—that is, the fifth petal—is orbicular, spreading back- 
ward, scarcely extending beyond the wings, which are free; and 
the casina—viz. the two anterior petals or seed—are pointed. ‘Ihe 
stamens are ten in number, of which nine form one bundle, leaving 
only one free. Their anthers are bilocuiar, opening from within 
by two longitudinal clefts. The unilocular ovary encloses a score 
of ovules. The style is very slight, and the stigmata obtuse. The 
fruit, which forms an important character in this family, is a pod ; 
the seeds are of a compressed ovoid shape, shiny, and of a dark 
colour, and enclose an embryo without albumen. 
The AMycpaALER—or, as Dr. Lindley terms them, the DrupacE& 
—include the Almond, Peach, Nectarine, Apricot, Plum, and 
Cherry ; fruits which are produced through the whole of Europe, 
Asia, and America. The Almonds are divided into Bitter and 
Sweet Almonds, the former being the produce of Amygdalus com- 
munis amara, and the latter of A. com. dulcis. The Sweet Almond 
is chiefly imported from Malaga; Bitter Almonds chiefly from 
Moroceo. 
The Peach (A. persica), Fig. 417, nearly allied to the Almond, 
belongs to the same genus ; and there are said to be instances of 
successful impregnation of the Almond with the pollen of the 
Peach. In this country the Peach, Apricot, and Nectarine only 
prosper as wall-fruit, where the reflected warmth of the wall, 
careful pruning, and such shelter as can be given from frost 10 
the spring, lead to large crops of delicious fruit : but the result *, 
very precarious. Under the generic name of Prunus, Linneeus 
