Ononis.] LEGUMINOS/E. 75 



whole plant affords the dyer a good yellow colour, and with woad a 

 good green. ( Smith. J Ray says the milk of cows feeding upon it 

 is rendered bitter, which flavour is communicated to butter and 

 cheese. 



3. Cytisus. Linn. Cytisus or Broom. 



Calyx 2-lipped ; the upper lip nearly entire, or with two small 

 teeth, lower one 3-toothed. Standard large, broadly ovate. 

 Keel very blunt, including the stamens. Legume flattened, 

 many-seeded. — Name ; kvtco-os, of the ancient Greeks ; said 

 to be so called because it came from the island Cythnos, one 

 of the Cyclades. Diadelphia. Decandria. 



1. C. scoparius, De Cand. Common Broom. Branches 

 angled, glabrous ; leaves ternate, stalked, upper ones simple ; 

 leaflets oblong ; flowers axillary, shortly pedicellate ; legumes 

 hairy at the margin. Spartium scoparium, Linn. — Br. Fl. 1. p. 

 319. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 261. E. Bot. t. 1339. 



Dry hills and gravelly places, frequent. Fl. June. T? . — Three to 

 six feet or more high. Branches long, straight, green. Flowers 

 large, bright yellow ; keel broad. Standard and wings much spreading. 

 Legumes large, compressed, dark brown. The young green tops are 

 said to be powerfully purgative and diuretic ; and are very bitter ; is a 

 rustic remedy for dropsies, which regular practitioners have not altoge- 

 ther despised. 



4. Anthyllis. Linn. Kidney-vetch. 



Calyx inflated, 5-toothed. Petals nearly equal in length. Le- 

 gume oval, 1 — 3-seeded, enclosed in the permanent calyx. — 

 Name ; avOos, njlower, and iov\os, a beard, or down, from the 

 downy calyces. Diadelphia. Decandria. 



1. A. vulneraria, Linn. Common Kidney-vetch or Lady's 



finger. Herbaceous ; leaves pinnated, unequal ; heads of flowers 



in pairs. Br. Fl. 1. p. 320. E. Fl. v. iii. p. 269. E. Bot. t. 



104. 



Dry gravelly banks and pastures, frequent. With red and sometimes 

 white flowers by the sea side at Ballylickey, near Bantry, where I 

 gathered it in 1805. Fl. June— Aug. 11.— Stem ascending. Leaflets 

 five to nine, lanceolate, entire, hairy, terminal one the largest. Flowers 

 in crowded heads, mostly yellow, with hairy calyces, and digitate or 

 palmate large bracteas. 



5. Ononis. Linn. Rest-harrow. 



Calyx 5-cleft, its segments linear. Standard^ large, striated. 

 Legume turgid, sessile, few-seeded. — Name ; ovos, an ass, be- 

 cause the plant is eaten by that animal. 



Diadelphia. Decandria. 



