LABURNUM 



LABYRINTHS 



1763 



green trifoliolate leaves falling late in autumn with- 

 out change of color, and with drooping racemes of 

 bright yellow flowers in late spring, followed by long 

 narrow pods remaining on the tree a long time. They 

 are adapted for planting on rocky slopes or in borders 

 of shrubberies, where they should be allowed enough 

 space to show to the best advantage their graceful, 

 drooping racemes of golden flowers, which contrast 

 with the dark green foliage. They are hardly ever 

 attacked by insects or fungi. Laburnum alpinum is the 

 hardiest species and perfectly hardy as far north as 

 Massachusetts; L. anagyroides is somewhat less hardy, 

 while L. caramanicum 

 is tender. They thrive 

 in any kind of well- 

 drained soil, including 

 limestone, and grow 

 as well in partly shaded 

 positions as in sunny 

 ones. Propagated by 

 seeds, sown usually in 

 spring, and also by 

 layers; the varieties 

 are mostly grafted or 

 budded on seedlings of 

 one of the species. 



anagyroides, Medi- 

 kus (L. vulgar e, Griseb. 

 Cytisus Laburnum, 

 Linn.). GOLDEN- 

 CHAIN. BEAN-TREE. 

 Fig. 2053. Large shrub 

 or small tree, to 20 ft., 

 with erect or spreading 

 branches: branchlets 

 appressed - pubescent, 

 grayish green : Ivs. 

 long-petioled ; Ifts. 

 elliptic or elliptic- 

 ovate, usually obtuse 

 and mucronulate, glau- 

 cous - green and ap- 

 pressed - silky pubes- 

 cent beneath when 

 young, 1-1% in. long: 

 racemes silky-pubes- 

 cent, 4-8 in. long; fls. 

 about %in. long: pod 

 appressed - pubescent, 

 with thick keel, about 

 2 in. long; seeds black. 

 May, June. S. Eu. 

 Gn. 25, p. 518; 34, p. 

 30, and 51, p. 302. 

 G.C. III. 36:318. H. 

 W. 3, p. 101. There 

 are many garden 

 forms. Var. aureum, 

 Rehd. (var. chrysophyl- 

 lum, Schneid.), with 

 yellow foliage. F.S. 

 21:2242, 2243. F. M. 

 1875:182. G.Z.20:129. 

 Var. bullatum, Schneid. (var. involutum, Hort.), with 

 curled Ifts. Var. Carlieri, Schneid. (L. vulgdre Carlieri, 

 Kirchn.). Lvs. smaller: fls. smaller in short upright 

 racemes, often several from one bud. Var. pendulum, 

 Rehd., with pendulous branches. Gn. 25, p. 522. G.M. 

 45:317. Var. quercifdlium, Schneid., with sinuately 

 lobed Ifts. Gn. 25, p. 520; 34, p. 30. Var. sessUifdlium, 

 Schneid., with crowded, sessile Ivs. Var. Alschingeri, 

 Schneid. (L. Alschingeri, Koch). Racemes shorter, lower 

 lip of calyx longer than upper lip: Ivs. more silky. S. E. 

 Eu. Var. autumnale, Rehd. (L. vulgdre autumnale, 

 Kirchn. L. vulgare bifera, Lavalle. L. vulgare semper- 

 fldrens, Nichols.) . Blooms a second time in late summer. 



2052. Tree labels of many patterns. 



alpinum, Griseb. (Cytisus alpinus, Mill.). SCOTCH 

 LABURNUM. Shrub or tree, to 30 ft., similar to the 

 former : branchlets glabrous or hirsute when young : Ifts. 

 usually elliptic, acute, light green and glabrous beneath 

 or sparingly hirsute, ciliate, 1-1 % in. long: racemes 

 long and slender, glabrous or sparingly hirsute; fls. 

 smaller: pod thin, with the upper suture winged, gla- 

 brous; seed brown. June. Mountains, S. Eu. B.M. 176 

 (as Cytisus Laburnum). Gn. 25, p. 519; 34, p. 30. 

 R.H. 1912, p. 446. G.M. 45:316. G. 36:477. Var. pen- 

 dulum, Koch. With pendulous branches. Gn. 25, p. 522. 

 A var. aureum is advertised. This species flowers 



about 2 weeks later 

 than the former, and 

 has much longer and 

 more slender racemes; 

 it also is of more up- 

 right and stiff er growth 

 and hardier. 



Watereri, Dipp. (L. 

 Pdrksii, Hort. C. al- 

 pinus xC. vulgdris, 

 Wittst.). Hybrid of 

 garden origin, but 

 found also wild. Lvs. 

 beneath and racemes 

 sparingly pubescent : 

 racemes long and slen- 

 der: pod with narrow 

 wing, sparingly ap- 

 pressed-pubescent, few- 

 seeded. G. 24:355. G. 

 M. 45:313. As hardy 

 as L. alpinum and 

 sometimes considered 

 to be a variety of that 

 species. 



Adamii, Kirchn. (C. 

 Adamii, Poir. C. Labur- 

 num purpurdscens, 

 Loud. Laburnocytisus 

 Adamii, Schneid. L. 

 vulgdre x Cytisus pur- 

 pureus). Originated at 

 Vitry, near Paris, about 

 1826. Habit and foli- 

 age usually almost like 

 L. anagyroides, but fls. 

 dull purplish, rarely 

 yellow; sometimes 

 bearing a few branches 

 with the fls. and Ivs. 

 of Cytisus purpureus. 

 A very interesting 

 form, but of less orna- 

 mental value. B.R. 

 1965. B.H. 21:16-18. 

 G.C. III. 36:219; 50: 

 162. One of the so- 

 called graft-hybrids 

 which have recently 

 been termed chimseras, 



as there is 'no fusion of cell-contents and nuclei, but 



only a mixture of tissues. 



L. caramdnicum, Benth. & Hook. (Podocytisus caramanicus, 

 Boiss.). Erect shrub, to 4 ft., much resembling in foliage and habit 

 the Cytisus sessilifolius, with long and slender terminal upright 

 racemes. July-Sept. Asia Minor. R.H. 1861, p. 410. G.C. III. 

 48:454. B.M. 7898. L. fragrant, Griseb., L. ramentaceum, Koch, 

 and L. Wddeni, Lavalle. =Petteria ramentacea. 



ALFRED REHDER. 



LABYRINTHS or mazes are intricate and confusing 

 networks of walks and passages within hedges of ever- 

 green, formerly employed as a garden entertainment 

 and conceit. They are still kept up in some Old World 

 gardens as relics of the past. They were popular in the 



