i6o 
its separate, or at least very ancient exist- 
ence in the mountains of Albania. First, 
its marked differences from previously 
known species; second, its growth over 
a great part of the Albanian province 
of Mirdizia ; and thirdly, the fact that 
it has long been known to the mountain- 
eers and bears a local name. Further, 
though we have in gardens other older 
forms of Forsythia, they seldom fruit, 
this being explained (according to the 
Magocsy-Dietz theory) by the absence 
with us of such flower-visiting insects 
as are suited to their fruiting organs. 
The fact therefore that the new Albanian 
species seeds freely is another point in 
favour of its beingatrue native of Europe. 
ACACIAS IN THE SOUTH- 
WEST. 
Many tender trees and shrubs of Aus- 
tralia, New Zealand and South America, 
are grown successfully in South Devon 
and Cornwall, some of these, such as 
Kmbothriii7n coccnieum^ being objects 
of great beauty when in flower, but it 
is doubtful if any family of trees is so 
valuable for brightening the garden 
through several months as the Acacias. 
The climate of the south-west is so well 
suited to these plants, which elsewhere 
in these islands can only be grown under 
glass, that I have met with several kinds 
doing well in the open. Even in the 
very warmest spots, however, shelter is 
a first necessity, for a day's gale may 
ruin the finest tree. A few years ago 
there was near the mouth of the Dart 
at Kingswear, in a spot fully sheltered 
from the north and east, agood specimen 
of Acacia dealbata^ 25 feet in height. 
At the end of February, when the tree 
was in bud, a gale from the south blew 
in from the sea and a few days later it 
was noticed that the foliage appeared 
brown and seared. This tree never re- 
covered and died within the year. 
Acacia dealbata^ the " Mimosa" of the Rivi- 
era, is the earhest to flower, and in a very warm 
and sheltered garden near Teignmouth I have 
met with it in bloom at the end of January, 
though as a rule it is at its best towards the 
end of March. There are many fine trees of 
this kind, 30 to 40 feet high, in the south- 
west, notably at Tregothnan and Trebah. In 
the former garden there is a group planted im- 
mediately in front of some Evergreen Oaks, 
and the effect of the cloud of golden blossoms 
thrown into relief by the dark foliage of the 
Oaks is very beautiful. In Cornwall this species 
is sometimes grown under the name of A. 
ajfims. 
A. verticillata may perhaps be considered 
the best of all the Acacias for effect, a large 
tree in full bloom being such a mass of flower 
that, at a little distance not a leaf is to be seen 
and it appears as a pyramid of pale yellow. It 
is a rapid grower of thick and bushy habit, 
offering so much resistance to the wind that 
unless very well sheltered it is more often blown 
down than any other species. I have known 
three fine plants of about 20 feet in height, 
blown down or broken off in the last few years. 
This species flowers in May and bears rounded 
flower-heads about half an inch in length. The 
leaves of this kind sometimes vary so much in 
different plants that they might easily be taken 
for different species altogether. 
A. armata does well in the open, forming 
a dense bush 5 to 6 feet in height and as much 
through. Its bright golden flowers, globular 
and sweet-scented, are borne in the spring, 
and its name is derived from its leaves being 
terminated by thorny points. This kind also 
varies much in the shape and size of its leaves 
as well as in habit, giving rise to several named 
varieties of which the most distinct are angusti- 
folia and pendula. 
^.^w/^ bears fragrant,globoseflower-heads, 
bright yellow in colour, upon gracefully arch- 
ing shoots in the spring, but I have seen it still 
in flower at the end of June. Its foliage is ovate. 
