448 



FREAKS OF PLANT LIFE. 



Before the adoption of the rose, the broom was the 

 badge of the House of Plantagenet. Tradition says 



that the name is 

 derived from this 

 circumstance, 

 plaiita and ge?iista 

 being combined. 

 The latter {Gen- 

 ista) was the bo- 

 tanical name for 

 the " broom " be- 

 fore the present one 

 {Sarothamnus) was 

 adopted. The 

 name of " Planta- 

 genet," another 

 account says, was 

 first assumed by 

 Geoffrey, Earl of 

 Anjou, the hus- 

 band of Matilda, 

 Empress of Ger- 

 many, who, having 

 placed a sprig of 

 the " broom " in 

 his helmet on the 

 day of battle, originated the surname, which was 

 bequeathed to his descendants. 



Fig. 93. — Broom {Sarothamnus 

 scoparius). 



