66 



A DISCOURSE 



ACACIA. 



The ACACIA together with that from Virginia, deserves a place 

 among our avenue trees, (could they be made to grow upright,) adorning 

 our walks with theu' exotic leaf and sweet flowers, very hardy against 

 the pinching winter, but not so proof against its blustering winds, though 

 it be armed with thorns ; nor do the roots take such hold of the ground. 



P The TRiPLfc-THORNED ACACIA is titled, Glcditsia sphiis triplicibus axillarihns. In the 

 Upsal catalogue it is termed simply, Gledilsia ; in the Hortiis Cliffurtiunus, Ccesaljmioides 

 foliis pinnatis ac dupUcato-pinnatis. Micheli calls it Melilobus ; Duhamel, Gledilsia spinosa ; 

 Plukenet, Acacia Americana, Abrnoe folio, triacunthos ; and Catesby, Acacia, Abruce folio, 

 iriacanthos, capsula ovali imicim semm claudente, 



GLEDITSIA is of the class and order Polygamia Dioecia. 



The growth of the Acacia is naturally upright, and its trunk is guarded by thorns three 

 or four inches in length. These thorns have also others coming out of their sides at nearly 

 right angles: their colour is red. The branches are smooth, and of a white colour. — 

 These are likewise armed with red thorns, that are proportionally smaller : they are 

 of several directions, and at the ends of the branches often stand single. The young shoots 

 of the preceding summer are perfectly smooth, of a reddish green, and retain their leaves 

 often until the middle of November. Although there is a peculiar oddity in the nature 

 and position of the spines, yet the leaves constitute the greatest beauty of these trees: 

 they are doubly pinnated, and of a delightful shining green. The pinnated leaves that 

 form the duplication, do not always stand opposite by pairs on the middle rib ; the pinnae 

 of which they are composed are small and numerous ; no less than ten or eleven pair 

 belong to each of them • and as no less than four Or five pair of small leaves are arranged 

 along the middle rib, the whole compound leaf consists often of more than two hundred 

 pinna; of this fine green colour : they sit close, and spread open in fine weather; though 

 at the approach of bad weather they will droop, and their upper surfaces nearly join, 

 as if in a sleeping state. The flowers are produced from the sides of the young branches 

 in July : they are a greenish catkin, and make little show ; many are succeeded by pods, 

 that have a wonderful effect ; for these are exceedingly large, more than a foot, and some- 

 times a foot and a half in length, and two inches in breadth, and of a nut-brown colour 

 when ripe. 



There is a variety of this species, with fewer thorns, smaller leaves, and oval pods. It 

 has nearly the resemblance of the other ; but the thorns being less frequent, and the pods 

 smaller, each containing only one seed, this sort loses that singular effect which the other 

 produces by their means. 



The culture of these beautiful and noble trees is not very difficult. We receive the 

 seeds from America in the spring, which keep well in the pods, and are for the most 

 part, good. They generally arrive in February ; and, as soon after as possible, they should 



