xxv. LEGUMINA'CE^K : if LEX. 



199 



Gen. 



Char. 

 soon 



har. Calyx bilabiate ; lower lip trifid, upper lip 2-lobed ; segments 

 falling off'. Petals deciduous. Vexillum large, obcordate, rufescent. 

 Wings cuneated. Keel cucullate, accumbent. Stamens 10 i free, deciduous. 

 Stigma minute. Legume broad-linear, compressed, 6-seeded, stipitate. 

 (Don's Mill.) 



Leaves compound, trifoliate, stipulate, sub-evergreen ; leaflets elliptical- 

 oblong, acute, broad. Flowers large, yellow. One species only in British 

 gardens. 



* 1. P. NEPALE'NSIS Swt. The Nepal Piptanthus. 



Identification. Swt. Fl.-Gard., 26*. ; Dec. Prod. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 112 



Synonymes. Thenn6psis /aburnifulia D. Don Prod. Ft. Ncp. p. 239. ; ^nagyris indica Wall. A/SS.; 



BapUsia nepaU'nsis Hook. E.rot. Fl. t. 131. 

 Engravings. Hook. Exot. Fl., t. 131. ; Swt. Fl.-Gard., t. 264. ; and our Jigs. 297. and 298. 



Spec. Char., $c. Leaves f rifoliolate ; leaflets elliptical-oblong, acute, broad. 

 Stipules 2, large. A sub-evergreen shrub. Nepal. Height 8 ft. to 10 ft. 

 Introduced in 1821. Flowers rich yellow; May and June. Pod green, 

 turning to brown ; ripe in October. Decaying leaves yellow and green. Naked 

 young wood dark green. 



The young leaves are silky ; and the flowers are of a bright yellow, and are 

 much larger than those of the common laburnum, to which they, and also the 



leaves and the shoots, bear a general 



resemblance. In British gardens it 



may be considered as rather tender, 



and not of many years' duration ; 



nevertheless, in fine seasons, it ripens 



abundance of seeds. It may be pro- 



pagated by cuttings of the roots, and 



of the shoots, as well as by seeds or 



layers. In most of the counties north 



of London, the safest situation for it 



will be against a wall ; and it well de- 



serves a place there, on account of 

 its luxuriant deep green foliage, and large bright yellow flowers, ^nagyris 

 indica Wall., Mr. Gordon considers as differing a little from the species. 



297. P. nepaWnsis. 



298. P. nepalmsis, nat. sire. 



Sect. II. L 

 GENUS IV. 



C7 V LEX L. THE FURZE. Lin. Syst. Monadelphia Dedmdria. 



Identification. Lin. Gen., No. 881. ; Lam. 111., t. 621. : Dec. Prod., 2. p. 144. : Don's Mill., 2. p.148. 



Synonymes. Ajonc, Fr. ; Hecksaame, Ger. 



Derivation. Said to be derived from ac, Celtic, a point ; in reference to the prickly branches. 



Gen. Char. Calyx bibracteate, bipartite, one of the lips 3-toothed, the other 

 bidentate. Stamens all connected. Legume oval-oblong, turgid, many- 

 ovulate, but few-seeded, hardly longer than the calyx. 



Leaves simple, linear, caducous, often changing into spines. Floiuers 

 solitary, yellow. 



Branchy spinous shrubs, evergreen from the colour of the bark, with yellow 

 flowers, natives of Europe, which will grow in any tolerably good soil that is 

 dry ; and are readily propagated by seeds, or by cuttings planted in sand. 



o 4 



