ACACIA. 
157 
ACACIA. 
FRIENDSHIP. 
The Acacia is a native of North America, 
from Canada to Carolina, and it has been con¬ 
secrated by the Indians to the genius of chaste 
love. Their bows are made of the incorruptible 
wood of this tree, and their arrows are pointed 
with its thorns. Those wild sons of the desert 
are susceptible of an attachment fraught with 
delicacy: they may perhaps be unable to give 
utterance to it in words, but they find means 
to express it in a branch of Acacia when in blos¬ 
som. The Indian girl, like the city coquette, 
understands this flattering language, and re¬ 
ceives, with a blush, the homage of him who 
has won her heart by his respect and love. 
It is not much more than a century since this 
ornamental tree was introduced into the gar¬ 
dens of France from American seeds by Robin, 
the botanist, after whom this family was named 
Robinia. It is a large, handsome tree, of quick 
