A COMPANION 



TO THE 



LADIES' FLOWER-GARDEN. 



A. 



Abu^tilon. — Malvacea. — The 

 herbaceous plants belonging to this 

 genus are scarcely worth cultivating, 

 but there is a very beautiful green- 

 house plant called Abutilon stria- 

 tum, that deserves a place in every 

 collection. This plant is a native of 

 Brazil ; and it is a half-shrubby 

 climber, with vine-like leaves, and 

 bell -shaped flowers of a bright yellow, 

 strongly veined with scarlet, which 

 hang down on long slender stalks. 

 The plant should be grown in a pot, 

 a quarter filled with broken potsherds, 

 to ensure perfect drainage, in a light 

 sandy loam ; and it should be trained 

 to a slight frame : or it may be planted 

 in the open air, and trained against a 

 wall or trellis, as it is nearly hardy, 

 and only requires protection from frost. 



Aca^cia. — Leguminbsce. — Most per- 

 sons understand by the word Acacia, 

 tall trees with pea-flowers, which are 

 natives of North America, and quite 

 hardy in the open air in England. 

 These trees, however, are the Locust 

 trees, or false Acacias, and belong to 

 the genus Robinia. The true Aca- 

 cias are what are called Wattle trees 

 in Australia, with flowers like balls 

 of golden down ; and as they x*equire 

 protection from the frost in England, 



they are generally treated in this 

 country as greenhouse shrubs. Above 

 three hundred species have been intro- 

 duced ; but only about thirty are in 

 cultivation in British nurseries, and 

 nearly all these have been figured in 

 the botanical periodicals. By far the 

 greater part of the Acacias grown in 

 England are natives of New Holland, 

 and most of these are nearly hardy ; 

 but some are from the East Indies 

 and Arabia, and most of these require 

 a stove. Nearly all the kinds are 

 evergreen ; and the Australian species 

 are very valuable in greenhouses, be- 

 cause they are in flower during winter. 

 In the open ground they flower in 

 March, April, May, and June. The 

 following kinds are those most com- 

 mon of the Australian Acacias in 

 British nurseries : — A. armata, a 

 compact growing plant, with simple 

 leaves and abundance of flowers, but 

 very apt to be infested with insects ; 

 A. alata, a curious species with leaf- 

 like stems; A. declpiens, with small 

 angular leaves ; A . diffusa, a dwarf 

 plant with small flowers ; A. hybrida, 

 very fragrant ; A. longifblia, with 

 very long leaves, and the flowers not 

 in balls, but in long close spikes ; A. 

 pubescens, a very elegant species 



B 



