82 FLOWERS OF THE HEATHS AND MOORS 



//. tibialis, Ascodcina obsoletuni, and Megachile versicolor, a Hymenop- 

 terous insect. 



Cytisus, Pliny, is an old Greek name for a kind of clover. Scoparins 

 is from the Latin scopcc, a broom. 



Broom has been named Banadle, Bannal, Basam, Beesom, Bisom, 

 Bizzom, Breeam, Greem Broom, Green Broom, Brovvme, Brum, Genest. 

 Basam, Bassam, or Bisom were names given in reference to the habit of 

 making brooms from it. Breeam tea was an infusion used as a diuretic. 



If Broom has many flowers it is a sign of plenty. In Germany 

 it is used in decorating at Whitsuntide. When Joseph and Mary were 

 fleeing into Egypt it bristled and cracked. 



" If you sweep the house with blossomed Broom in May, 

 You are sure to sweep tiie head of the house away." 



The water from Broom flowers was drunk by Henry VIII to pre- 

 vent disease from surfeits. The bark shaved was used to stanch 

 blood in the fourteenth century. An unguent was made from the 

 blossoms. It was the badge of the Plantagenets. 



The tops of Broom were put in beer to give it a bitter taste. The 

 stem is fibrous, like Spanish Broom. The seeds have been used to 

 adulterate coffee. Containing much alkali, it is the Sal genista of the 

 pharmacopeia. It has been used successfully for thatching, and is 

 planted for fences and coverts. It serves also as food for cattle. The 

 flowers in bud are pickled like capers. The woody part was once used 

 for tanning leather, and the old wood for veneering. Cloth has been 

 manufactured with the fibre. It is cathartic, and the seeds emetic. 



Essential Specific Characters: — 



75. Cytisus scoparins. Link. — Shrub, branches slender, erect, angu- 

 lar, leaflets small, scattered, ternate, upper simple, flowers yellow, large, 

 pods hairy, black, styles coiled. 



Tormentil (Potentilla erecta, Hampe = P. Tormentilla, Scop.) 



This is one of the Arctic plants which have been detected in early 

 deposits, e.g. Interglacial, Late Glacial, Neolithic, and Roman deposits. 

 The range to-day is Arctic Europe, West Siberia, the Azores, or the 

 Northern and Arctic Temperate Zones. Commonly dispersed through- 

 out Great Britain, it is found as far north as the Shetlands. In the 

 Highlands it is found at the height of 3300 ft. It is a native of Ireland 

 and the Channel Islands. 



Tormentil is essentially an ericetal plant, being found on most of 



