CYTISUS 461 



very distinct among its kind, because of its long terminal racemes, which 

 commence to open flowers in July, and continue until the end of August. 

 Flowering as it does on the shoots of the current year, it should be pruned in 

 spring before growth commences. It is wise also to remove the racemes 

 when the flowers are over, so as to prevent excessive seed formation. A group 

 of this broom in the front of a shrubbery is very effective. The flowers turn 

 black when dried, a pecularity (not confined to this species) on which Linnaeus 

 ba^ed the specific name. 



C. PR^COX, Wheeler. WARMINSTER BROOM. 



A hybrid broom with the habit of C. albus, but with denser and heavier 

 masses of young branches. Leaves mostly simple, about \ in. long, silky 

 like the young shoots ; soon falling. Flowers sulphur-yellow, produced in 

 remarkable abundance in early May, and very beautiful then ; but they have 

 a heavy, rather unpleasant odour which renders the plant unsuitable for 

 growing in large masses near the house. It ripens good seed, but the plants 

 do not come true, reverting more or less to one or other parent. It can be 

 increased easily from cuttings placed in sandy soil under cloches in a cold 

 frame during August. This fine broom first appeared among some seedlings 

 of C. purgans in the nursery of Messrs Wheeler of Warminster about 1867. 

 From its appearance it was surmised that it was a hybrid between that species 

 and C. albus, made through insect agency. The reversion of its seedlings to 

 the white broom have since proved this. 



C. PURGANS, Boissier. 



A deciduous shrub, often nearly leafless, 3 or 4 ft. high, of sturdy habit, 

 forming a low, wide mass of rather rigid, erect, grooved branches. Leaves 

 stalkless, narrowly obovate, \ to \ in. long, clothed with appressed silvery 

 hairs, and soon falling. Flowers produced in April and May, singly or in 

 pairs from the joints of the preceding year's wood, deep golden yellow, each 

 flower 35- in. long, on a somewhat shorter stalk. Pod f to i in. long, hairy, 

 three- or four-seeded. 



Native -of France from the Loire southwards to Central Spain ; long 

 cultivated in English gardens (Philip Miller grew it in the Chelsea Botanic 

 Garden in the mid-eighteenth century). The exceptionally rich golden colour 

 of its flowers makes this species well worth cultivation ; it should have the 

 sunniest possible position. Its foliage is a negligible quantity, but the 

 numerous dark green branchlets give the effect of an evergreen. It can be 

 increased in the usual way (see under prascox), but plants so raised are not so 

 long-lived as seedlings. It is said to have purgative and emetic properties, 

 but is poisonous in large quantity, and not used in medicine. 



C. PURPUREUS, Scopoli. PURPLE BROOM. 



A low, deciduous shrub, from i to ij ft. high ; branchlets smooth or 

 nearly so, well furnished with trifoliolate leaves. Leaflets obovate, J to I in. 

 long, stalkless themselves, but with a common stalk J to i in. long ; usually 

 quite smooth, dark green. Flowers purple, produced in May on the shoots 

 of the preceding summer, one to three of them at each joint. Each flower 

 is | in. long ; the calyx \ to \ in. long. Pod quite smooth, I to i^ ins. long, 

 containing three or four seeds. 



Native of Central and S.E. Europe ; introduced in 1792. From the colour 

 of its flowers it is one of the most distinct of brooms, and one of the most 

 charming of dwarf shrubs. It makes an admirable cover for the ground 



