54 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



a. 1. FE'LLA PSEU'DO-CY'TISUS Z/. False- Cytisus,o/- shrubby, Cress- Rocket. 



Identification. Lin. Sp. 895. ; Dec. Prod., 1. p. 223. ; Don's Mill., 1. p. 254. 



Synonymes. Fella integrifftlia Sal. \ Faux-cytise, Fr. ; strauchartige (shrubby) Velle, Ger. 



Engravings. Cav. Ic., 1. 42. ; and our fig. 76. 



Spec. Char., fyc. Petals yellow, with long dark 

 purple claws. Larger stamens perfectly con- 

 nate by pairs (Dons Mill.) A low sub- 

 evergreen shrub. Spain, on calcareous hills. 

 Height 2 ft. to 4 ft. Introd. in 1759. Flowers 

 yellow ; April and May. Silique greenish 

 yellow ; ripe in July. Decaying leaves yellow. 

 Branches arched, spreading, somewhat decum- 

 bent. Leaves glaucous green. Somewhat ten- 

 der, but requires no protection in the climate of 

 London, when planted on dry soil. It is a 

 short-lived plant, like all the suffruticose Cru- 

 ciferae, but it may readily be renewed by cuttings 

 or seeds. 



Pseudo-Cj'titus. 



ORDER VIII. CISTAH3EJE. 



ORD. CHAR. Sepals 5, two of them being exterior. Petals 5, very fugitive. 

 Stamens numerous. Fruit capsular, 3 5-valved, 5 10-celled, with pari- 

 etal placentae. Embryo inverted. Properties balsamic. (Lindl.) 



Leaves simple, opposite or alternate (the lowest leaves always oppo- 

 site), stipulate or exstipulate, deciduous or sub-evergreen; generally pubes- 

 cent, pubescence simple or stellate. Flowers large, showy, white, red, 

 or purple. Shrubs low, suffrutescent, many subherbaceous; natives of 

 Europe and Africa. 



The fistaceae have no medical properties ; but the resinous balsamic sub- 

 stance called ladanum or labdanum is produced from C. creticus, C. lada- 

 niferus, C. /aurifolius, and one or two other species. Their use in gardens is 

 for ornamenting rockwork, or for keeping in pits during the winter, and planting 

 out in flower-borders in spring ; as, from the tenderness of the finer species, 

 they are unfit for a permanent place in a shrubbery or arboretum. Most 

 of even the larger-growing kinds require some protection during winter : 

 but they will all grow freely in any soil that is dry ; and they are readily 

 propagated by seeds, which, in fine seasons, they produce in abundance, or 

 by cuttings ; the plants, in both cases, flowering the second year. Though 

 easily propagated, the Cistaceae do not readily bear transplanting, having 

 very few fibres, and these rambling to a great distance from the main root. 

 Plants for sale ought, therefore, to be always kept in pots; and, in the 

 winter season, they should be protected by some slight covering during 

 severe weather. The hardy ligneous species are included in two genera ; which 

 are thus contradistinguished by DeCandolle and G. Don : 

 CI'STUS L. Capsule 10 5-celled. 

 HELIA'NTHEMUM Tourn. Capsule 1 -celled, 3-valved. 



GENUS I. 



DQQ 



CTSTUS L. THE CISTUS, or ROCK ROSE. Lin. Syst. Polyandria 



Monogynia. 



Derivation. From the Greek word ki'ste, a box or capsule, or the Anglo-Saxon, cist, a hollow 



