GENIS'TA SAGITTA'LIS. 



JOINTED GENISTA. 

 Class. Order. 



DIADELPHIA. DECANDRIA. 



Natural Order. 



LEGUMINOSjE. 



No. 50. 



It is pretty generally agreed that Genista has been 

 derived from the Latin genu, the knee ; but on what 

 account authors appear less unanimous. Some say 

 in allusion to the bending, or singular connexion of 

 one part of the stem to another ; whilst others con- 

 ceive that it arose from their similar flexibility ; or 

 its utility in relieving pain in that joint. Sagittalis, 

 also from the Latin, signifying, of an arrow, perhaps 

 from the leaf having the appearance of the feather- 

 ed end of an arrow. 



The singular formation of this plant will always 

 claim for it a place in the garden of the curious. 

 The leaves are produced one from the end of ano- 

 ther; alternately from the upper and undersides, 

 connected by the midrib, which has a partial termi- 

 nation at the end of each. 



It may be divided at the root, though a better 

 mode of propagation is from seeds. These should 

 be sown in the autumn, and the plants kept free of 

 weeds during the next summer. In September they 

 may be transplanted to the situation where they are 

 intended to remain. It succeeds in almost any soil 

 or aspect. 



Hort. Kew. 2, v. 4, 259. 



