FALSE ACACIA; a genus of plants be- longing to the diadelphia class; and in the natural method ranking under the 3rd order, Papilionaceae. See Bo- tany Index. There are nine species included under this genus, and the most remarkable are the caragana and ferox, the leaves of the former of which are conjugated, and composed of a number of small foliicles, of an oval figure, and ranged by pairs on one common stock. The flowers are leguminous, and are clustered on a filament. Every flower consists of a small bell-shaped petal, cut into four segments at the edge, the upper part being ra- ther the widest. The keel is small, open, and rounded. The wings are large, oval, and a little raised. Within are 10 stamens united at the base, curved towards the top, and rounded at the summit. In the midst of a sheath, formed by the filaments of the stamens, the pi- stil is perceivable, consisting of an oval germen, termin- ated by a kind of button. This germen becomes af- terwards an oblong flatish curved pod, containing four or five seeds, of a size and shape irregular and unequal; yet in both respects somewhat resembling a lentil.

This tree grows naturally in the severe climates of Northern Asia, in a sandy soil mixed with black light earth. It is particularly found on the banks of great rivers, as the Oby, Jenisei, &c. It is very rarely met with in the inhabited parts of the country, because cattle are very fond of its leaves, and hogs of its roots; and it is so hardy, that the severest winters do not af- fect it. Gmelin found it in the neighbourhood of To- bolisk, buried under 15 feet of snow and ice, yet had it not suffered the least damage. Its culture consists in being planted or sowed in a lightish sandy soil, which must on no account have been lately manured. It thrives best near a river, or on the edge of a brook or spring; but presently dies if planted in a marshy spot, where the water stagnates. If it is planted on a rich soil, well tilled, it will grow to the height of 20 feet, and in a very few years will be as big as a common birch tree.

In a very bad soil this tree degenerates, and becomes a mere shrub; the leaves grow hard, and their fine bright green colour is changed to a dull deep green. The Tungusian Tartars, and the inhabitants of the northern parts of Siberia, are very fond of the fruit of this tree, it being almost the only sort of pulse they eat. M. Strahlenberg, author of a well-esteemed description of Siberia, assures us that this fruit is tolerably pleasant food, and very nourishing. These peas are first infused in boiling water, to take off a certain acid taste, and are afterwards dressed like common peas or Windsor beans; and being ground into meal, pretty good cakes are made of them. The leaves and tender shoots of this tree make excellent fodder for several sorts of cattle. The roots, being sweet and succulent, are very well adapted to fattening hogs; and the fruit is greedily eaten by all sorts of poultry. After several experiments somewhat similar to the methods used with anil and indi- go, a fine blue colour was procured from its leaves. The smaller kind of this tree seems still better adapted to answer this purpose. The striking elegance of its foliage, joined to the pleasing yellow colour of its beau- tiful flowers, should, one would imagine, bring it into request for forming nosegays, or for speedily making an elegant hedge.

Besides the qualities above recited, it possesses the un- common advantage of growing exceedingly quick, and of being easily transplanted. There are large planta- tions of it now in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and Ice- land. Linnaeus assures us, that after the Pinus fol. qui- nis, erroneously called the cedar tree of Siberia, this tree, of all that are to be found in Siberia, is most wor- thy of cultivation.

The robinia ferox is a beautiful hardy shrub, and, on account of its robust strong prickles, might be in- troduced into this country as a hedge plant, with much propriety. It resists the severest cold of the cli- mate of St Petersburgh, and perfects its seed in the im- perial garden there. It rises to the height of six or eight feet; does not send out suckers from the root, nor ramble so much as to be with difficulty kept within bounds. Its flowers are yellow, and the general colour of the plant a light pleasing green. A figure of it is given in the Flora Rossica by Dr Pallas, who found it in the southern districts, and sent the seeds to St Peterburgh, where it has prospered in a situation where few plants can be made to live.