FUBZE GEEEN-WEED. 81 



The Furze is the first family of this group. Our common 

 Furze needs no description, we have all seen it in every 

 county we have visited, however far inland, or however close 

 upon the sea. The French call the plant Jonc-marin, in 

 allusion to its endurance of the sea-air. Its Latin name, Ulex 

 europeeus (Plate VI., fig. 2), signifies sharp ; and the fingers 

 of eager flower-plucking children attest to the fitness of the 

 appellation. This shrub is essentially characteristic of England; 

 it cannot live in hot countries, nor does it extend far north, 

 being scarce even in the Highlands of Scotland. When 

 Linnaeus first beheld the Furze, with its wealth of golden 

 blossoms, he fell on his knees, and thanked God for its beauty. 

 He attempted in vain to introduce it into Sweden. It perished 

 in the open country, and even in the garden it sickened and 

 died. Dillenius, too, another famous botanist, said that he 

 could not find words to express the pleasure which the sight 

 of this plant had given him. In Scotland it is called Whin 

 more than Furze, and we often hear it named Gorse. Fences 

 are made of this bush, the young shoots are eaten by cattle, 

 the seeds are devoured by birds, and the old stems afford 

 winter firing for the poor. At one time the whole plant used 

 to be crushed by a machine and given both to cows and horses 

 for food, in the neighbourhood of Birmingham. 



There is a smaller species (Ulex nanus), with paler blossoms, 

 which blooms in August and September. It grows in Kent 

 and Sussex. Edward has specimens from the hills at Hastings; 

 indeed he gathered some on the site of the famous battle which 

 gave to William the First his title of " Conqueror." 



The Green-weed family come next. The largest of these, 

 the Dyer's Green-weed (Genista tinctoria, Plate VI., fig. 4), 

 is pretty common. I have gathered it near Sutton, in the 

 Bipon district, and in the neighbourhood of Richmond, and 

 I see that Edward has specimens from Kent. It is a hard- 

 wooded plant, but grows half prostrate, mingling with the 

 grass in mountain meadows. Its large yellow flowers, placed 



