A ENGLISH BOTANY. 
incorporated with the leaves so-as to be undistinguishable. Flowers 
axillary, yellow. 
The generic name is said to be derived from ac, a point, in Celtic, in reference to 
the prickly branches. 
SPECIES 1—U LEX EUROPAUS. Lina. 
Pirate CCCXXIII. 
Stem sub-erect. Branches spreading or ascending, sparingly 
hairy. Primary spines straight, ascending, very deeply furrowed. 
Bracts deltoid-ovate, one-sixth the length of the calyx, and in width 
twice the breadth of the pedicel. Calyx densely shaggy. Wings 
longer than the keel, curved over it at the apex. Pod longer 
than the calyx, matured in the same year which has produced its 
flower. 
Var. a, vulgaris. 
Branches mostly spreading. Primary spines strong, with many 
ridges. 
Var. 6, strictus. 
Ulex strictus, Mac. Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. iii. p. 69. 
Branches erect. Primary spines slender, 4-edged. 
On heaths, commons, and banks, and in dry fields or outskirts 
of woods. Very.common, and generally distributed ; except in the 
extreme North of Scotland. Var. 6 only in Lord Londonderry’s 
Park, county Down. 
England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub. Winter and Spring. 
Stem woody, 3 to 6 feet high, with very numerous stiff 
branches. Primary spines (abortive branches) 1 to 3 inches long, 
very deeply furrowed, with prominent ridges between the furrows, 
except at the spinous subulate tip; secondary spines simple, + to 
+ inch long, decreasing in size as they approach the apex of the 
primary spine. ‘Trifoliate leaves only present on the plant imme- 
diately after germination on petioles } to+inch long, with 3 oblan- 
ceolate acute hairy leaflets ; all the subsequent leaves, which appear 
to consist entirely of petiole, about + inch long, channelled above 
nearly to the apex, which terminates in a subulate spine. Flowers 
bright yellow, { inch long, on short shaggy pedicels, solitary and 
in pairs chiefly on the primary spines, or near the base of the 
secondary spines irregularly racemose or paniculate. Bracts loosely 
applied to the calyx. Calyx yellowish-olive with blackish hairs, 
divided 6n each side to the base, faintly nerved, the upper segment 
with 2 very indistinct teeth at the apex, the lower one with 3 
