42 NATIVE FLOWERS OF VICTORIA. 
usually very small and, when crowded together as 
they usually are, occur in two forms. First, the 
form is that of globular heads or balls, like the 
Golden Wattle; and second, the flower-heads assume 
the form of round elongated spikes, as in the Coastal 
Wattle, Acacia longifolia Sophorae. The flowers 
differ in colour very much, and all shades may be 
seen from white, as in Acacia melanoxylon, to deep 
golden yellow, as in Acacia pycnantha. 
Acacias produce a most abundant crop of flowers. 
When it is considered that each golden fluffy ball — 
“dear little downy heads of gold,” as Jennings Car- 
michael lovingly called them — contains from four to 
twenty small flowers, and when the many golden balls 
on each tree are thought of, it wiU hardly be possible 
to conceive the immense number of flowers on a single 
tree. These flower-heads are rich in poUen, and they 
also carry a small quantity of honey, so that the 
wattle-trees in flower are of great use to the bees. 
Wattles usually produce an ample suppy of seed, 
but the quantity of seed is very small in proportion to 
the number of the flowers. If the plants, too, are 
growing out of their latitude, or in a climate much 
different to that of their native habitat, they do not 
produce seed freely. AU wattle seeds are extremely 
hard and will not readily grow unless the hard seed 
coat is broken. The easiest method of breaking is to 
pour boiling water over the seeds. No fear need be 
entertained that the boiling water will injure the 
seeds. The late Professor Tate, of South Australia, 
once boiled some seeds of the Golden Wattle for 
seven minutes, and in three weeks’ time every seed 
