NAT. ORDER. 
Legumnosce. 
ACACIA VERA. GUM AEABIC TEEE. 
Class — PoLYGAMiA. Order — Moncecia. 
Gen. Char. Floivers, polyamous. Caly.x, four to five toothed. Pe- 
tals, four to five, sometimes free, and sometimes joined into a 
corolla. Stamens, variable. 
Spe. Cliar. Branches and leaves, g-labrous. flowers, usually twin 
yellow. Branches and spines, red. 
This is a most eleg-ant climbing- shrub, with long-, weak, difflise, 
interweaving- branches, cling-ing- and supporting- themselves by means 
of their very short, recurved, weak prickles, which are inconspicuous 
to the eye, thoug-h at once perceptible to the touch. The prickles are 
found on every part of the plant, except the peduncles, and secondary 
rachises of the leaves ; they are also g-enerally worn off the old 
branches and stems. These, when old, are pale brown or g-rey, as 
well as smooth and round ; the young- ones are strongly sulcated and 
ang-ular, and more or less pubescent with short, wooly, fulvous, g-lan- 
dular hairs ; foliage most delicate and lovely ; the leaves resembling- 
g-racefuUy curved or drooping- plumes of feathers, of a fine, brig-ht, pe- 
culiar yellow-g-reen, six to eig"ht inches long-, and one to two broad ; 
stipules very minute, narrow-minute, ovate, erect, and vithering- ; pe- 
tioles g-eniculate at the base, the part below the elbow two lines long-, 
ang-ular and slender, the upper side channelled with an oblong-, hol- 
low, boat-shaped g-land a little above the elbow ; copiously clothed 
with short, g-landular, fulvous pubescence, and furnished with recurved, 
Vol. IV.— 148. 
