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3. SPARTIUM JUNCEUM. 



ff? tt;p 



SPANISH BROOM. 



THIS genus contains plants of the deciduous and evergreen 

 kinds. 



It belongs to the class and order Diadelphia Decandria and ranks 

 in the natural order of Papilionacece or Leguminostz. 



The characters are: that the calyx is a one-leafed perianth, cor- 

 date-tubular: at the upper edge very short, below towards the tip 

 marked with five toothlets, coloured, small : the corolla papiliona- 

 ceous, five-celled : standard obcordate, the whole reflexed, very 

 large : wings ovate, oblong, shorter than the standard, annexed to 

 the filaments: keel two-petalled, lanceolate, oblong, longer than the 

 wings, (the carinal margin connected by hairs,) inserted into the fila- 

 ments : the stamina have ten connate filaments, adhering to the 

 germ, unequal, gradually longer; the uppermost very short; the 

 lower nine-cleft : anthers oblongish : the pistillum is an oblong germ, 

 hirsute: style awl-shaped, rising: stigma growing to the upper side 

 of the top, oblong, villose: the pericarpium is a cylindric legume, 

 long, obtuse, one-celled, two-valved : the seeds many, globe-kidney 

 form. 



The species cultivated are: 1. S. scoparium, Common Broom; 

 2. S. junceum, Spanish Broom ; 3. S. radiatum, Starry Broom ; 4. S. 

 monospermum, White-flowered Single-seeded Broom; 5. S. spharocar- 

 pum, Yellow-flowered Single-seeded Broom; 6. S. Scorpius, Scorpion 

 Broom; 7- S. angulatum, Angular-branched Broom; 8. S. spinosum 

 Prickly Broom. 



The first grows from three to six feet high or more, very much 

 branched; the branches upright, rushy, evergreen, angular, flexible, 

 leafy, smooth except the very young ones which are downy ; the 



