CHAP. XLI. LEGUMINA tE-t. CY TISUS. 591 



was observed by Mr. Rivers in England; in which, at the extreme 

 end of the shoot of a plant of C. L. purpurascens, there came forth 

 a branch of the true C. purpureus.with its small leaves and peculiar 

 habit, appearing as if budded on the purple laburnum. ( Gard. j\Ic/g., 

 vol. xii. p. 22o.) The .'^arae thing has occurred to the original tree 

 in our garden at Baysvvater. 



t 3. C. (L.) alpi'nls ATill. The Alpine, or Scotch, Laburnum. 



Identification. Mill. Diet., No. 2. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 15.1; Don's Mill., 2. p. 154. 



St/nonymcs. C. /.aburnum ^3 .4i/., Lam., Dec. Ft. Fr. ; Cytisus angiistifblius Mcench Meth., 14.i, ; 



C. Labi'irnum v.ir. latifiilium Pcrs. and t)u Mont; Cytisedes Alpe.5,rAubours, Fr.; Alpen Bohen. 



baum, Ger. : Maggio pendolino, Ital. 

 Engramtigs. Waldst. et Kit Hung., 3. t. 2fiO. ; and the plate of this tree in Vol. II. 



Sfiec. Char., c^r. Branches glabrous and terete. Leaves petiolate ; leaflets 

 ovate-lanceolate, rounded at the base. Racemes pendulous. Pedicels and 

 calyxes puberulous. Legumes glabrous, few-seeded, marginate. {Doll's 

 Mill., W. p. lo4-.) A tree, growing to the height of 20 ft." or 30 ft., and 

 sometimes much higher, in a state of cultivation. It is found in Carinthia, in 

 the Alps of Jura, on Blount Cenis, and on the Apennines. According to 

 some, it is also found wild in Scotland ; but, though it is much cultivated 

 in some parts of Fifeshire and Forfarshire, it is far from being indigenous 

 there. It was introduced into Britain about th6 same time as the other 

 species, viz. 1596 ; and was, probably, for a long time confounded with it; 

 for which reason we shall treat of the history, uses, &c., of the two spe- 

 cies, or races, together. 



Variety. 



t C. (L.) a. 2 pcndulus has pendulous branches, and, in the foliage and le- 

 gumes, seems intermediate between CZyaburnum and C. (L.) alpinus. 

 This is very obvious in a fine specimen of this variety in the ai'boretum 

 of the Messrs. Loddiges, as shown in our plate in Vol. II. The pen- 

 dulous variety of C. Z/aburnum is a much less robust plant. 

 Geograjjht/, History, i^-c. The Cytisus Laburnum, according to the Xoiiveau 

 Du Hamel, grows spontaneously in the mountain forests of Germany, Austria, 

 Hungary, Switzerland, and Italy; in several provinces of France, and, among 

 others, in Provence, Dauphine, Burgundy, Lyonois, Jura, &c. The Cy'tisus 

 (L.) alpinus is found in most of these woods, along with the other species, or 

 race; but it is now particularly abundant in Savoy and Hungary. The labur- 

 num appears to have been known to the Greeks, under the name of Anaguris, 

 and it is mentioned by Theocritus, Virgil, and Pliny. Theocritus states that 

 goats are very fond of its shoots ; and Virgil, that it augments the milk of 

 that animal. Pliny, in his Xat. Hist., book xvi. chap. 18., observes that the 

 laburnum, a native of the Alps, was not common in Italy in his time. He 

 adds that bees would not even settle upon the blossoms of this tree. Mathiohis 

 mentions that the wood of the laburnum was considered, in his time, to make 

 the best bows. Gerard cultivated this tree in his garden in Holborn, in 1596 ; 

 and observes that there are two varieties, one with long broad leaves, and 

 the other with less and narrower leaves : that he possessed the latter onlv, 

 but that Tradescant had both sorts. Miller recognised them as species ; but 

 Linnasus did not. Whether they ai"e species or varieties, they are certainlv 

 very distinct ; as much so, perhaps, as the Quercus i?6bur pedunculatum, and 

 Q. R. sessiliflorum. Both sorts, being highly ornamental, have been extensively 

 propagated and cultivated in British gardens and plantations. 



Properties and Uses. The heart-wood of the laburnum is of a dark colour ; 

 and, though of rather a coarse grain, it is very hard and durable : it will take 

 a polish, and may be made to resemble ebony. A cubic foot weighs 

 52 lb. 1 1 oz. in a dried state. The colour and grain of the heart-wood 

 vary much, according to the soil, and the age of the tree. It is darkest 

 in the C. Laburnum, when grown on poor calcareous soil; and lightest in 

 the C. (Z,.) alpinus, when grown in deep rich soil : in which last case its 



s s 



