38 
The Garden Magazine, March, 1923 
The Acclaimed Acacia at Home 
T 
THE LARGEST OF AUSTRALIAN ACACIAS, THE BLACKWOOD 
In northwest Tasmania the Blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon) reaches up 8 o feet with a girth of 12 feet; 
its wood, often beautifully figured, is much sought after for the making of musical instruments and 
for cabinet work. This fine specimen is in the Botanic Garden at Ootacamund, Nilgiri Hills, S. India 
unsightly. The Silky Oak is a fast-growing tree, much planted 
in many parts of the world either for its beauty or to produce the 
necessary shade over Coffee, Cocoa and other tropical crops. 
Another species ( G . Hilliana) is also a large tree with foliage 
rather like that of Stenocarpus sinuatus and greenish-white 
flowers borne on erect, axillary, cylindrical racemes each from 6 
to 8 inches long. Among the shrubs are many other species of 
Grevillea including G. rosmarinifolia with rose andG. juniperina 
with yellow flowers, which are fairly hardy in the south of Eng¬ 
land, and the red-flowered G. Banksii with finely divided foliage. 
A number of Banksias, both trees and bushes, are striking 
features. Among them are B. integrifolia, B. latifolia, B. serrata 
and the low-growing charming B. ericifolia all with yellowish 
flowers and occasionally grown in California though this fine 
genus has hardly got a foothold in our gardens. 
Lastly, among the handsome Proteaceae, so glorious a feature 
of the Australian flora, 1 may mention theQueensland Nut ( Mac - 
adamia ternifolia). This is a small tree, seldom exceeding 30 feet, 
with ternate leaves, long racemes of whitish flowers and nuts 
about one inch in diameter, of excellent flavor, and nutritious. 
Very handsome in flower is the Black Bean ( Castanospermum 
australe ) with racemes of fleshy, yellow to coral-red blossoms 
freely produced from the old branches; it has pinnate leaves a 
foot and a half long and pods from 8 to 9 inches long and 2 inches 
broad, containing seeds which, though edible, are not wholesome. 
HE largest genus in Australia is 
Acacia of which some415 species 
have been described and of these 280 
are Eastern. Wattle, prefixed by 
such terms as Silver,Golden, Black, or 
Green, is the general name for them 
in Australia and the Wattle is the na¬ 
tional flower of the land. A number 
of species are grown in our gardens 
and greenhouses. [Garden Maga¬ 
zine, Dec., 1920, A. M. Woodman’s 
“Acacia Accessions from Australia”, 
Ed.], but there are many fine ones 
not introduced. Well known is the 
Silver Wattle ( Acacia dealbata ) much 
grown for its flower in the south of 
France and elsewhere. Owing to its 
suckering freely this tree has become 
a pest in parts of South Africa andon 
the Nilgiri Hills in southern India. 
The relatedGreen and Black Wattles 
(. A. decurrens and the var. mollis), 
though not very ornamental, are 
abundantly cultivated in Natal and 
other parts of Africa for their bark 
which is a valuable tanning agent. 
The Golden Wattle (A. pycnantha ) 
and the Sydney Golden Wattle {A. longijolia ) are graceful and 
lovely small trees and are general favorites. So too is the hand¬ 
some A. Baileyana with its dense silver-gray foliage spirally ar¬ 
ranged on the shoots and axillary racemes of clear yellow flowers. 
It forms a neat, round-topped tree from 20 to 25 feet tall but is 
easily blown down by winds. Though popularwith florists it is a 
rare species indigenous only round Cootamundra in New South 
Wales. Another rare species from the same state is the favorite 
A.pubescens with feathery green leaves, arching, slender branches 
and clear yellow, delightfully fragrant flowers in axillary racemes. 
The largest of the Australian Acacias is the famous Black¬ 
wood (A. melanoxylon). In the rich alluvial valley of north¬ 
west Tasmania this is a tree 80 feet tall and 12 feet in girth of 
trunk with a handsome dark billowy crown, but the flowers are 
pale and of little merit. This tree grows also on the main¬ 
land of Australia and has been much planted on the Nilgiri 
Hills and elsewhere in India, also in Africa for its timber which is 
often beautifully figured and much esteemed for cabinet work, 
and for making musical instruments. 
Acacias are found in every Australian state from the coast 
to the arid interior and in every situation from swamp to desert. 
They are worthy of a long article to themselves but space allows 
for mention only of two other favorites: A. cultriformis and A. 
podalyriaefolia, both very gray-looking shrubs with clear yellow 
flowers and well known in our gardens. 
I he Melaleucas or Tea-trees are 
common, some species being tall trees 
and others bushes. The largest is M. 
Leucadendron, common near the 
coast, with large white flowers and 
shaggy masses of buff-colored, chang¬ 
ing to white, bark. Another tree 
species is M. stypbelioides with 
smaller creamy-white flowers in dense 
spikes, small prickly green leaves and 
spongy thick bark; M. ericifolia is a 
small tree and M. armillaris a shrub 
with pendent branchlets. More 
showy are the Bottle-brushes (Cal- 
listemons) of which C. lanceolatus, 
C. rigidns, C. bracbyandrus and 
C. salignus are grown in California. 
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