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\title{On the Uses of Plants}
\author{Kenneth John Odle}

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\genus{Abutilon}
\family{Malvaceae}{Attractive tender shrubs grown for their beautiful flowers and handsome foliage. Good in the greenhouse or outdoors in California and the South. Best in loose, well-drained soil. Treat like geraniums or fuchsias, as they make good pot plants.}

\species{Hybridum}``\common{flowering maple}''. Nodding, bell-shaped 2-3'' flowers in pastel shades of orange, red, white, and pink. Arching shrub to 10 feet, with broad maple-like leaves. Main blooming period is in the spring, but some colors are almost everblooming. Makes a nice tub plant in the North, and can be pinched to keep compact. Easy to grow from seed; germinates in one or two weeks.

\species{vitifolium} Large blue and white mallow-like 2-3\nicefrac{1}{2} inch flowers. Half-hardy shrub or small tree to 1\nicefrac{1}{2} to 3 feet in cultivation; to 25 feet in the wild. Lobed 6'' leaves. Native to coastal Chile. Said to be hardy to zone 7. Good in the cool greenhouse.

\genus{Acacia}
\family{Fabaceae}{Some 1,200 warm-region species of great ecological and evolutionary interest.\par{}Their earliest fossils are in North American, from where they expanded worldwide, with an Australian center of diversity.}

\species{Baileyana}``\common{cootamundra wattle}'', ``\common{golden mimosa}''. Spectacular masses of fragrant golden flowers in January and February, almost covering the tree. Feathery blue-grey bipinnate foliage on a small compact tree with arching growth, to 30 feet tall. One of the hardiest, and tolerates most any soil and full sun to part shade. Native to only a few stands in New South Wales, and would be endangered if not in cultivation.

\species{complanata}``\common{silver wattle}''. Profuse bloomer forming a mass of bright yellow fragrant flowers in late winter. Elegant silvery green feathery foliage. Fast growing adaptable tree to 50-100 feet. SE Australia. One of the hardiest, standing considerable snow and low temperatures. Grown for perfumery, fuelwood, tannin, gum production, and florist material.

\genus{Amsonia}
\family{Apocynaceae}{Hardy perennials valued in the border or among shrubbery for their blue star-like flowers.}
\species{hubrichtii}Starry blue flowers in clusters on a hardy perennial to 3-5 feet, with narrow needle-like leaves that turn bright yellow-orange in fall. Ozarks. Zone 5.

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