]52 ACACIA OXYCEDRUS. 
branch . Stipules, also, are no less than abortive leaves, which have not been abb 
to elaborate themselves properly ; and spines, in the instance before us, are but 
another form of the like abortion. Neither the effective cause nor the precise pro- 
cess of these transitions can be easily determined. 
Without any reference, however, to its botanical features, A. Oxycedrus is a 
species which especially merits the culturist's regard. Our readers will at once be 
struck with the similarity in its foliage to that of Araiicaria hrasiliensis. But, 
beyond this circumstance, its habitude is dwarfer and less diffuse than that of the 
plant just pointed out, and it is decorated in the summer with numerous spikes 
of lively yellow flowers. It has, in short, the best habit of any Acacia with which 
we are acquainted, and ought to be proportionally valued. If a specimen be kept 
from growing too tall by careful pruning, plants from one to two feet high will 
constitute what we should deem models of greenhouse shrubs ; that is, they will 
arrange their branches in a bushy, but not too close head, which will remain ever- 
green through the winter, and be liberally adorned with spikes of pretty yellow 
blossoms, more than an inch long, for a great portion of the months of February 
and March. 
According to Loudon's catalogue, it was first brought to England in 1824 from 
New Holland. Like too many other handsome plants, it has since been almost 
entirely forgotten ; and is now, after having lain so long unnoticed, likely to 
become popular. At one of the meetings of the Horticultural Society, in Regent 
Street, we observed a nice specimen of it in February last, exhibited by Messrs. 
Chandler of Vauxhall, and to these gentlemen we owe permission to take the 
annexed figure. 
It is a plant of very simple culture. The soil in which it is potted should be, 
for the most part, a sandy loam, to which a little heath-soil can be added if the 
individual be luxuriant. Cuttings, which are not to be procured in great abundance, 
on account of the paucity of small shoots, will, when planted in sand or a sandy 
soil, under a glass, on a slight hotbed, strike root with tolerable freedom. The 
pruning above alluded to should be performed on two-year old plants, and need 
not afterwards be continued. 
The Celtic word ac, a point, is presumed to be the basis of Acacia ; though 
some say it is from akazo, to sharpen. Both derivations would refer to the spines 
resident on the stems of several of the species. Acacia contains a somewhat hete- 
rogenous assemblage of plants, which will probably be separated into other genera 
at no distant period. 
