Acacia sp.

Does anybody know of public domain pictures in .jpg or .gif format of the Umbrella tree version of the Acacia.

Thanks.

Grant Thomas

>  I'll start the ball rolling, since I'm the proud grower
>of an acacia.  I don't know the specific species, unfortunately, 
>as it was labeled only "Acacia."  I suspect, however, its 
>variety is something like "TWA." (Tree With Attitude.)  If plants 
>had biker gangs, this tree would join.  It's the toughest,
>most ornery tree I've ever had the pleasure of raising.  I 
>got off on the wrong foot with it by doing something very stupid
>(isn't expereince a wonderful teacher?) -- leaving it in the car too 
>long on the cold winter's day that I bought it.  I thought it 
>was a goner, for it dropped all its leaves, but it came back in 
>several weeks.  This is typical of the vigor of the tree -- it's 
>an extremely strong and fast grower, but it tends to get leggy.  
>Constant pruning is a must because of this, and more importantly,
>because it's a tree which seems to tend towards top growth, with 
>the lower limbs dying back if the top is left to its own devices.
>
>  There is, however, one little problem with constant pruning -- 
>the tree has BIG nasty thorns.  It also has a strong sense of 
>retribution, so when we prune it, it prunes us!  I said that the 
>tree has an attitude!  It once got into an argument with my cat, 
>and it won.  (Actually, this may have taught the cat a valuable 
>lesson about messing with bonsai -- she hasn't done it since.)
>
>This particular tree doesn't seem fussy about the particulars of 
>soil, water or food.  It's in basic soil mix, and I feed it 
>twice monthly with Pokon.  (Yes, I know organics and timed 
>released fertilizers are more effective, but I just can't stand 
>ugly, smelly pellets on my trees, especially when they're 
>indoors!)  It likes to be watered moderately, perhaps a bit on 
>the dry side, but is fairly forgiving in this regard.  It loves 
>sunlight.  I keep it in an eastern bay window where it gets lots 
>of light in the morning, and in the winter evenings, it does 
>well under a grow lamp.  It doesn't like the cold, as I have 
>learned, and should be kept inside until the weather is warm.  
>In Buffalo, this is around August.  (Well, I may be exaggerating 
>a little...)
>
>I transplanted it once, in spring, without any problems.  I've 
>tried to get its cuttings to root with no success.  I haven't 
>yet tried from seed although I do have some acacia seeds on 
>order, so I should know soon.
>
>It doesn't seem (knock on wood) prone to devestating problems 
>with insects and fungoidal infections.  Every now and then, 
>little fly larvae like to make their home in the roots.  I 
>lather the lower trunk with soap, then sit the tree in a sinkful 
>of water for a while.  Bugs drown, problem gone.  It's hard to 
>style, however, because of the legginess and dieback.  It also 
>tends to "shed" -- losing a bunch of leaves several times a year,
>but this is always followed by renewed vigor.  For all that, I 
>think it's quite a worthy bonsai because it has lovely little 
>foliate leaves, and an impressive gnarly trunk.
>
>I'd be interested to know if other acacias are as macho as mine!
>
>Sabrina Caine
>c/o rcaine@acsu.buffalo.edu

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Date:         Sun, 17 Mar 1996 12:33:08 18000
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         James Lewis 
Subject:      Re: Tree of the Week - ACACIA!!!
In-Reply-To:  <199603170527.AAA00027@freenet4.scri.fsu.edu>; from "Robert F
              Caine" at Mar 17, 96 1:22 am

Let me add some Florida acacia to the list:

A. choriophylla (Tamarindillo), small tree, NO SPINES.  In U.S. found
only in the Keys.  Endangered, but may be available in S. Fla.
nurseries)

A. macracantha (long spine / steel acacia).  Small spreading tree with
PAIRED spines about 4 cm (2 inches) long.  Very rare--restricted to
one key in Fla.  Doesn't sound suitable anyway.

A. pinetorium (Pine Acacia) small, sprawling shrub/tree with 1 cm
paired spines.  Common in pinelands scrub, Lee County south.

A. smallii (Small's acacia) Shrub to 5 meters armed with pairs of VERY
SHARP spines.  In Fla. in the extreme western panhandle (Near
Pensacola) so may be in Alabama and Mississippi, Louisiana or Texas.

A. tortuosa (Twisted acacia) shrub to small, spiny tree with zigzag
branches.  Uncommon on shell mounds and along roadsides, S. Fla.


--
Jim Lewis - jkl2@freenet.scri.fsu.edu
            Cool the Earth . . .
            Plant a Tree!
=========================================================================


Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 1996 10:33:14 -0800
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         Bill Williams 
Subject:      Tree of the Week: Acacia

My only experience so far with an acacia is getting the seeds to
sprout. I bought Acacia farnesiana seeds from Carter Seeds in
California. I then scarified them, soaked them in hot water, and
immediately planted them. 32 of the 50 I planted sprouted right up.
And this was the first time I tried seeds of any type.

If they are hardy as has been stated, I'm going to have a lot of
Acacias to deal with.

Bill Williams
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Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 1996 11:12:53 -0800
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         Hud Nordin 
Subject:      Re: Tree of the Week: Acacia

> If [Acacia farnesiana] are hardy as has been stated, I'm going to
> have a lot of Acacias to deal with.

If you are talking cold hardiness, their natural northern range ends
around the Florida border, or not real far from Mexico. They like it
pretty warm.

Carter Seeds likely blessed you with several hundred seeds in its
smallest 1-oz packet.

They will germinate in high numbers.

Yes, you will have a lot of Acacias to deal with.
--
Hud
=========================================================================


Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 1996 16:12:18 -0800
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         Hud Nordin 
Subject:      wtw5918, Who Complained of Being Unsubscribed

I e-mailed you a message. It bounced.

If the listserv has the same experience, that could be why you get
unsubscribed.

> From: MAILER-DAEMON@psdvser.ca.boeing.com (Mail Delivery Subsystem)
> Subject: Returned mail: Insufficient permission

  --- The transcript of the session follows ---
> bellmail: cannot create lock file /usr/spool/mail/wtw5918.lock: The 
> file access permissions do not allow the specified action.
> 550 ... Insufficient permission

ObBonsai:

Regarding the Tree of the Week: Those who take up the habit of thorned
Acacia species must either clean up most carefully after pruning
sessions or give up altogether the idea of going barefoot in the area.

I looked at some of my Acacia spines under a low-power microscope,
once. Amazing things! They looked to be about ten times sharper than
the steel needle I compared them to. They enter the skin effortlessly,
even painlessly -- AT FIRST!
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Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 1996 16:42:33 -0800
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         Hud Nordin 
Subject:      Re: wtw5918, Who Complained of Being Unsubscribed

I got a bunch of different species from Carter Seeds, in the FAQ. I
like legumes. Unfortunately they come in smallest packets of 1 ounce,
and sometimes that is thousands, at least hundreds of seeds; it seems
so wasteful. (Too late... I split my extras amongst net folks last
time.)

Avoid species that have phyllodes instead of leaves. These are usually
the Australian species. I'll be writing about Acacia seedlings I have
known and loved for the Tree of the Week.

They are warm-weather species. I know some people who grow some species
indoors.
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Date:         Mon, 18 Mar 1996 21:02:00 -0500
Reply-To:     Internet Bonsai Club 
Sender:       Internet Bonsai Club 
From:         RickBonsai@AOL.COM
Subject:      Re: Tree of the Week - ACACIA!!!

Some Texas Acacia:

Acacia smallii (Texas Huisache)- I haven't done a lot with the one I have but
even with severe pruning it has been reluctant to branch.  This tree has
spines at the base of the leaves and blooms from December-March with bright
golden blossoms.  In the wild they tend to be multi-trunk and about 15-20'
tall.

Acacia wrightii (Wright's Acacia, Wright's Catclaw, Uno de Gato)- So far,
this tree is amazing.  I bought mine last year in a 1 gallon nursery pot.
 Knowing the nursery where I bought it, I believe the tree to be only about
2-3 years old and it has a base of about 5/8".  When I got the tree, which
was about 2' tall with few branches, home I cut it back to about 6" to see if
it would stimulate branching.  Boy, did it.  Seemingly overnight there were
buds popping out from all over the trunk.  I just repotted it a few weeks ago
and, after some leaf drop, it is responding tremendously.  Like Sabrina's, I
suspect this tree will need a lot of pruning attention but since it buds back
so well, I have high hopes for it.  The compound leaflets are smaller than
the huisache and fold up at night (or during the day if it needs water).  As
you might guess, the tree gets the catclaw name for its recurved spines.

Rick
S-most, Tx
=========================================================================

From: "DLNorton@3RD|\\/|iL" 
Subject: Re: Tree of the Week - ACACIA!!!
Message-ID: 
Date: Wed, 27 Mar 1996 14:27:14 -0800
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In-Reply-To: <4ifpgk$hom@azure.acsu.buffalo.edu>
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Ahh..!! Mimosas!!
 
What a fun and pain in the butt tree to grow...!!  I live here in sunny 
and hot Southern California.  I remember about 20 years ago my folks 
bought a house with two big mimosas in the front yard.  My dad didn't 
like them and eventually cut them out.  For about ten years hence, some 
of the seeds that made it to the ground would start to sprout. I tried 
saving them, but they died from the torrid heat we have out here.

Since then I've moved away, got married, and started up bonsai garden.  
I've been meaning to get a mimosa like the one my folks used to have, but 
haven't found one that grabbed my fancy.  And quite recently, my dad told 
me that he's now kicking himself for taking out those mimosas because 
they made great shade trees.  He's now trying to grow a jacaranda on the 
same spot of one of the trees.  My dad's a fruit tree specialist now, but 
back then, he didn't have the knowledge...now he's learned his lesson.

-D.L.Norton
=================================================================
From: havener@netten.net (havener)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.bonsai
Subject: Re: Tree of the Week - Acacia - at last!
Date: 4 Apr 1996 16:20:43 GMT
Organization: T-Net from Memphis!
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In article <4jupnt$ita@azure.acsu.buffalo.edu>
rcaine@acsu.buffalo.edu (Robert F Caine) writes:

> Acacias are warm weather trees with compound leaves, and, usually,
> with nasty thorns.  They must be wintered indoors, although they 
> generally like it somewhat cool -- under 64 degrees.

I just sent Hud a bunch of legumes which include endemic Hawaiian
Acacia koa and will also send him a more recently introduced exotic
(within the last 100 years) Acacia which we can't quite figureout
exactly what they are.  You see, in Hawaii, what tropical/sub tropical
may grow only 10 feet tall in their indigenous enviroment will often
grow 200-1000+ percent taller in Hawaii.  I'm sure Nina would have a
field day trying to classify some of the exotics in Hawaii by sight
without the benefit of DNA analysis.  Hawaii adapted material like the
Acacia koa grow best in a humid, 75-85 degree F range, rather than the
cooler temp Acacia.  Hud tried to "harden" a previous batch of Acacia
koa to the cooler California enviroment, and they did not like it one
bit!  Hawaii plants, like the local Hawaii people, find temps lower
than 75 degrees F, FREEZING!  You frequently find the local Hawaiians
in jackets when the temps are in the lower 70's F range.  I currently
have my dixie cup Koa sprouts in plastic baggy jactkets.  Acacia koa
also has a rich native cultural history as the warrior wood.

Geoline,
Looking foward to setting-up the foundation to
The Memphis Musubi Hard Rock Bonsai Cafe with homegrown Koa
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