FIG. 21. ACROCLINIUM ROSEUM, showing Habit and Flower-head.
A. roseum (rosy).* fl.-heads pretty rose, solitary, terminal, on erect, slender, and gracefully disposed branches. l. linear, acute. h. 1ft. to 2ft. S. W. Australia, 1854. See Fig. 21.
A. r. album (rosy white).* A very pretty white form of the preceding.
A. r. grandiflorum (large-flowered).* fl.-heads rose, larger than in the type.
ACROCOMIA (from akros, top, and kome, tuft; referring to the position of the leaves). ORD. Palmeæ. A genus of South American palms, containing about eleven species, which are not easily distinguished, but having the following general characteristics: Trunk from 20ft. to 50ft. high, and clad with long prickles. The flowers, which appear in the axils of the lower leaves, are greenish or yellow, and their drupes are much the same colour. Leaves pinnate, with seventy to eighty leaflets on each side of the pinnæ. They require a warm greenhouse and rich sandy loam. Increased by suckers. Two species only are in general cultivation.
A. aculeata (prickly). h. 40ft. West Indies, 1791.
A. fusiformis (spindle-shaped). h. 40ft. Trinidad, 1731.
A. globosa (globular). h. 20ft. St. Vincent, 1824.
A. horrida (horrid). h. 30ft. Trinidad, 1820.
A. lasiospatha (hairy spathed). l. drooping. Trunk about 40ft. high, smooth and ringed. Para, 1846.
A. sclerocarpa (hard-fruited).* A very elegant species bearing a head of spreading pinnate leaves, with the rachises and petioles aculeate, and the leaflets linear, taper-pointed, glaucous underneath, about 1ft. long. h. 40ft. West Indies, 1731. SYN. Cocos fusiformis.
A. tenuifolia (fine-leaved). h. 30ft. Brazil, 1824.
ACROGENS. Plants increasing at the summit, as Ferns, &c.
ACRONYCHIA (from akron, tuft, and onux, a claw; referring to the curved points of the petals). ORD. Rutaceæ. An ornamental rue-like greenhouse evergreen shrub. Petals and sepals four; stamens eight, inserted on a disk; fruit berry-like. It requires ordinary greenhouse treatment. Increased by cuttings in July in sand, under a bell glass.
A. Cunninghami (Cunningham's).* fl. white, in clusters, resembling those of an orange, with an exquisite fragrance. July. h. 7ft. Moreton Bay, 1838.
ACROPERA. See Gongora.
ACROPHORUS. See Davallia.
ACROPHYLLUM (from akros, top, and phyllon, a leaf; referring to the way in which the leaves are produced at the summit of the branches, above the flowers). ORD. Cunoniaceæ. Handsome greenhouse small, erect-growing, evergreen shrubs, flowering profusely during the spring months. They require a mixture of fibrous peat, a little loam, and sharp sand; thorough drainage, an airy situation, and as little artificial heat as possible, are important to its well-being. Re-pot in February. Propagated by cuttings of the half ripened shoots, which strike freely in a soil of sand and peat, if covered with a hand glass, and placed in a cool house. The roots should not be allowed to get dry, and light syringing during late spring and summer will be found beneficial in assisting to keep down thrips.