220 



ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 



to the soil and situation. Flowers large, yellow ; May and June. Legume 

 black ; ripe in September. Naked young wood green. 



Varieties. 



& C. s. 2 dibits Hort. lias the flowers white^ or of a very pale yellow. 

 * C. s. 3flore plena Hort. has flowers slightly double. 



The roots are straight, and penetrate perpendicularly to a great depth. The 

 leaves are trifoliolate or simple ; the branches numerous, long, straight, angular, 

 dark green, smooth, and tough. The flowers are of a deep golden yellow, 

 sometimes tinged with orange, and occasionally of a uniform pale lemon 

 colour : they are succeeded by pods above an inch long, 

 black when ripe, and each containing 15 or 16 seeds. 

 The flowers are larger than those of any other species 

 of the genus ; and, were the plant not so common in 

 a wild state, it would, doubtless, be considered the 

 most ornamental. The whole plant is exceedingly tough, 

 and bitter to the taste, and has a strong disagreeable 

 smell. Though it is at present comparatively neglected, 

 yet in former times it was one of very great importance 

 in rural and domestic economy. The branches are eaten 

 by sheep and cattle ; and, on poor gravelly soils, formed, 

 before the general improvement of grass lands which 

 has taken place within the last century, the principal 

 herbage. One of the principal modern uses of the broom, 

 both in Britain and on the Continent, is to form 

 brooms, or besoms; for which purpose, as the specific 

 name would imply, it appears to have been used from 

 time immemorial. The young shoots were formerly 

 used as a substitute for hops in brewing beer ; and the 

 flower-buds, just before they become yellow, were pickled 

 in the manner of capers. The tops and leaves are purgative and diuretic. 

 In the North of Scotland, a decoction of the recent shoots is used by shep- 

 herds, for dressing the backs of sheep, instead of tobacco water. The broom 

 produces abundance of seeds, which, according to M. Hartig, retain their 

 germinating quality for a very long time : some that he kept 25 years, in a 

 room which was occupied, having come up as readily as new seed. 



349. Cytisus icopkrius. 



iii. Calycutome Link. 



Derivation. From kalyx, a calyx, and tome, a cutting; in reference to the calyx, the upper part of 

 which, after some time, falls off, in such a manner as to give the remainder the appearance of being 

 cut round. 



Sect. Char. Calyx campanulate, somewhat bilabiate, at length becoming trun- 

 cate. Pod thickened on the upper suture. Shrubs with spiny branches 

 and yellow flowers. (Dec. Prod.) 



& 10. C. SPINO^SUS Lam. The spiny Cytisus. 



Identification. Lam. Diet., 2. p. 247. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 154. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 155. ; Webb Iter 



Higpan., 51. 



Synonyme. Spartium spin&sum Lin. Sp. 997. 

 Engravings. J. Bauh. Hist, 1. p. 2. p. 376., icon. ; Lob. Icon., 2. t. 95. ; and our fig. 350. 



Spec. Char., $c. Branches angled, spiny. Leaves trifoliolate ; 

 leaflets obovate-pblong. Legumes perfectly smooth. (Dec. 

 Prod.) An upright spiny shrub. Upon hills and rough places 

 from Perpignan to Genoa, in Corsica, and in the Algerine 

 country. Height 2 ft. to 10 ft. Introduced in 1596. Flowers 

 yellow ; June and July. Legume black ; ripe in October. 



There are plants in the Hort. Soc. Garden. M0 . c . Spin6sus . 



