BROOM 79 



In Northants it is said: 



" When Gorse is out of bloom 

 Kissing is out of season ". 



A spray of Gorse was inserted in the bridal bouquet in allusion to 

 this. According to Pliny, Furze was used in the collection of gold, the 

 plant being laid down in water to catch any gold-dust brought down 

 by the water. Furze was used for fuel in bakers' ovens and in soap- 

 making, when burnt containing much alkali. It was also crushed and 

 given to horses as fodder, as also to cows and sheep. 



ESSENTIAL SPECIFIC CHARACTERS: 



74. Ulex europczus, L. Shrub branched, spreading, with close 

 thorns or spines, leaves small, lanceolate, few, calyx hairy, bracts ovate, 

 flowers yellow, borne on spines, calyx teeth united. 



Broom (Cytisus scoparius, Link.) 



As with Furze, commonly distributed as it is this shrub is not found 

 in any early deposits. Its present range is from Gothland southward, 

 but it is absent from Greece and Turkey, occurring in N. Asia, Canaries, 

 and the Azores. In Great Britain it is found in every county except 

 Cardigan, Flint, and the Northern Isles, from Caithness southward, up 

 to a height of 1000 ft. in the Highlands. It is found in Ireland and 

 the Channel Islands. 



Broom is everywhere a sign of heath-land or common-land, equally 

 as much as Furze; but to-day Broom bears much more evidence of 

 having been planted than Furze does, being much employed for 

 forming fox-coverts and plantations, where Furze is used in its natural 

 state. Railway embankments are frequently lined with clumps of 

 Broom, and it grows in many recent woods. 



Broom is a typical switch plant, with the shrub habit. The plant 

 is more or less hairy, but not spinose, as in Furze, to the habit of 

 which it more or less conforms, both being dry-soil heath plants. The 

 stems are erect, much branched, bright- or dark-green, angular, and 

 furrowed, the branches silky. The leaves are shortly stalked, ternate, 

 3 in a group, or solitary. They are small or absent, and the stems 

 perform their function to a great extent. The leaflets are inversely 

 egg-shaped, silky. 



The flowers are papilionaceous, large, bright-yellow or white, the 

 flower-stalks short, in the axils, solitary or paired. The styles are 

 spiral. The pod is black, with hairs along the borders, and many 

 seeds. After opening, the valves are twisted. 



