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THE LADIES’ FLOWER-GARDEN 
14.— ACACIA LOPHANTIIA Willd. THE TWO-SPIKED ACACIA. 
SvNONYMEs.— Mimosa distachya Vent . ; M. elegans Andr. 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 2108 ; Bot. Rep., t. 563 ; Bot. Reg., 
t. 361 ; .and T.odd. Bot. Cab., t. 716. 
Specific Character. — Unarmed. Leaves bipinnate, witli eight or 
ten pairs of pinn®, cacli bearing twenty-five or thirty pairs of lanceolate, 
but somewhat bluntish, leaflets. Petioles and calyxes clothed with 
velvety down, with a gland at the base of the petiole and between the 
two terminal pairs of the petioles of the leaflets. Racemes oblong, 
axillary, twin. 
Description, &c. — This species is easily distinguished by its branches being round and fluted. Its flowers are 
produced in long spikes or racemes, and when fully e.xpanded they are very ornamental. The plant is a native of 
the south-west coast of New Holland, whence it was introduced in 1803. It is very nearly hardy, and when 
planted out in the open air, though it is generally killed down to the' ground by the first severe frost, it will throw 
up fresh shoots in the spring. It looks best planted in the free ground of a conservatory. 
15.— ACACIA DEALBATA Linh 
A. affinis Hort. ; 
THE MEALY ACACIA. 
Synonymes. — A. decurrens var. mollis Ker 
Mimosa decurrens var. Vent. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg., t. 371 ; Floral Cabinet, t. 103. 
Specific Character. — LTnanned. Leaves with fifteen pairs of 
pinn®, each bearing many pairs of minute, equal, pubescent leaflets, 
with a perforated gland seated between one of the pairs of pinna. 
Racemes lateral. (J3. Bon.) 
Description, &c. — This is one of the most elegant species of the genus, and its fine, close, glaucous foliage has 
more the appearance of green feathers than the leaves of any other tree whatever. The leaves are also particularly 
remarkable for a soft greyish bloom, the appearance of which is very well expressed by the epithet dealbata, which 
signifies floury. The species was introduced in 1818, hut as it was at first supposed to be a variety of A. decurrens, 
comparatively little notice was taken of it ; hut within the last ten or twelve years it has become popular, particu- 
larly as it is found to be very nearly hardy, and that when it is planted in the open ground it forms a very elegant 
slender tree, which only requires a slight protection during winter, and which, even if it is killed down to the root 
by frost, will thi’ow up fresh shoots the following spring. The flowers are produced in globular heads. 
OTHER SPECIES BELONGING TO SECTION 3. 
A. SPECTABILIS Cunn. 
Tins plant is evidently nearly allied to A. dealbata, which it resembles in the softness and delicacy of its foliage, 
and in the beauty of its numerous heads of flowers, which are of the clearest and softest yellow. It is a native of 
Wellington Valley and of other places on the east coast of New Holland, but it is decidedly more tender than 
A. dealbata, as it will not live without a greenhouse in this country. It was introduced in 1840. 
A. DISCOLOR Willd. 
This is another species very nearly allied to the last two, which takes its name of discolor from the mealy 
appearance of the leaves, they having a whitish hue on their under sm’face, which is sometimes changed into a 
reddish-brown. It is not particularly ornamental, as there are seldom more than twelve flowers in each head, and 
consequently the heads are small and very inferior in beauty to those of most of the other species of the genus. 
It was introduced in 1788. 
A. ALBIDA Lindl. 
A veiy handsome plant, closely resembling A. dealbata in the appearance of its leaves, but differing in its 
flowers, which are disposed in very large solitary balls, instead of being in numerous small globular heads, arranged 
in racemes. The species was introduced in 1824. 
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