BROOM OF ECONOMIC PLANTS. 63 



Bread-root. {See Prairie Turnip.) 



Briar -root, a popular name for the roots, burrs, and knots 

 of Urica arhorea, a shrub or small tree of the Heath family 

 (Ericacese). It is found in many parts of Europe, as well as in 

 Algeria. The burrs, roots, and knots are imported into this coun- 

 try in large quantities for making pipes, which are sold as Briar- 

 root pipes, the common name being a corruption of the Erench 

 Bruy^re. 



Brinjal, or Bringal. {See Egg-plant.) 



Brocoli. {See Cabbage.) 



Broom {Cytisus scoparius), a shrub or small tree of the 

 Bean family (Leguminosse) with twiggy, flexible almost leafless 

 branches. It is a native of Britain and throughout Europe, 

 growing on heaths and uncultivated ground. Its showy yellow 

 flowers make it a general favourite. In Spain and France it 

 attains the size of a tree, and its wood, which is hard, is highly 

 valued for veneering and cabinet-work. The fibre of the bark is 

 very strong, and capable of being used for many purposes ; its 

 twiggy branches are extensively used for making brooms. 



A closely-allied plant, S'partmm junceum^ a native of South- 

 ern Europe, has more slender and cord -like branches than C. 

 scoparius, and they are used for making baskets and fastening 

 the vines in the vineyards. In Italy and the South of France a 

 cloth is made from the fibre, which is obtained by tying the rush- 

 like twigs into bundles, and exposing them to the sun for some 

 time to wither; they are then beaten with a mallet, and placed in 

 water, where they are allowed to remain eight or nine days, after 

 which they are washed ; this operation loosens the fibre in the 

 bark, and after drying it is combed and dressed in a similar 

 manner to that which obtains in the preparation of flax. 



The Broom is the badge of the Plantagenets, adopted by 

 Henry IL, and borne by the rest of his race ; Planta genesta 

 giving the family title of Plantagenet figured on the seal of 

 Eichard I. 



Broom Corn, a name in the United States for Sorghum 

 saccharatum, an annual grass, producing a dense head of long 



