"THE SWEET O' THE YEAR" 143 



when we enjoy Harlequin and Columbine among 

 our flowers, and these fantastic and frivolous 

 columbines dancing so gaily in the breeze always fill 

 us with delight. 



BROOM (Cytisus scoparius). Although the 

 broom was a popular plant in Elizabethan days it is 

 only mentioned once by Shakespeare. In "The 

 Tempest," 1 where Iris in the mask in her apostrophe 

 to "Ceres, most bounteous lady," speaks of 



thy broom-groves 



Whose shadow the dismissed bachelor loves, 

 Being lass-lorn . . . 



... the queen o' the sky . . . 

 Bids thee leave these. 



When in blossom the broom is lovely to look upon. 

 The large yellow flowers are gracefully arranged on 

 the branches, and its perfume is delightful. 



"Sweet is the Broome-flower !" exclaims Spenser. 

 The broom is the Planta genesta, from which the 

 Plantagenets took their name. The flower, having 

 become heraldic during that dynasty, was embroid- 

 ered on the clothes of the Plantagenet family and 

 imitated in their jewels. When they died it was 

 carved on their monuments. The story goes that 

 Geoffrey, Earl of Anjou, father of Henry II of 



1 Act IV, Scene I. 



