586 GENISTA 



that are hardy. As a rough guide to their identification they may be 

 arranged as follows : 



i. LEAVES AND BRANCHES OPPOSITE. 

 Horrida, radiata. 



2. LEAVES ALTERNATE, SIMPLE. 



/Etnensis, anxantica, cinerea, monosperma (flowers white), ovata, pilosa, tinctoria, 

 virgata. 



3. LEAVES ALTERNATE, TRIFOLIOLATE. 



Glabrescens, nyssana. 



4. LEAVES ALTERNATE ; BRANCHES SPINY. 

 Anglica, dalmatica, germanica, hispanica. 



5. BRANCHES WINGED. 

 Sagittalis. 



G. ^TNENSIS, De Candolle. ETNA BROOM. 



(Garden, March 4, 1893 ; Spariium aetnense, Bivona, Bot. Mag., t. 2674.) 



A tall shrub up to 15 or 20 ft. high, occasionally even more, with a main 

 stem 6 to 12 ins. thick, and assuming the form of a small tree of erect, sparse 

 habit, with very little foliage, but numerous slender, bright green, rushlike 

 branches, which are pendulous when young. Leaves very few and scarcely 

 noticeable, being narrow, linear, and j to ^ in. long. Flowers produced in 

 July, scattered singly on the shoots of the year towards the end, each \ in. or 

 so across, the petals golden yellow, the calyx green, angular-toothed, bell- 

 shaped. Seed-pod \ in. long, ending in a sharp, decurved point and carrying 

 two or three seeds. 



Native of Sardinia and Sicily, and found on the slopes of Mount Etna 

 at altitudes of 3000 to 6000 ft. It flowers during July and early August, when 

 few hardy shrubs are in bloom ; being of great beauty then, this broom is one 

 of the most valuable of all its kind. Its tall habit makes it useful for planting 

 at the back of shrubberies, where it can overtop without unduly shading other 

 things. Although practically devoid of foliage, the bright green young 

 branchlets give the plant almost the quality of an evergreen. It always makes 

 a conspicuous feature in the grounds at Kew in July. It is a very hardy shrub, 

 one of the largest and oldest specimens in the country, being in the gardens at 

 Howick in Northumberland. 



G. ANGLICA, Linnceus. NEEDLE FURZE, PETTY WHIN. 



A deciduous, more or less prostrate shrub, I to 2 ft. high. Branches slender, 

 interlaced, very spiny ; spines numerous, i to f in. long. Leaves simple, 

 glabrous, ovate-lanceolate, pointed, about | in. long. Flowers yellow, \ in. 

 long, crowded on short racemes terminating leafy twigs. Seed-pod \ in. long. 



Widely distributed over Western Europe, and frequent on moors and wild 

 places in Great Britain. Although pretty when in flower, it is not one of the 

 most attractive of Genistas. The spines are really modified branches, and may 

 often be seen bearing leaves. The species resembles G. germanica, but is 

 distinguished by its smooth leaves and branchlets. 



* Var. SUBINERMIS, Legrande. A form nearly or quite without spines. It 

 has recently been found in the Lake district. 



G. ANXANTICA, Tenore. NEAPOLITAN BROOM. 



(G. tinctoria var. anxantica Fieri.") 



A dwarf deciduous shrub of diffuse habit, very nearly allied to G. tinctoria, 

 and of a similar type of growth. Leaves oval, sometimes broadly so. 

 Racemes terminal ; flowers yellow, f in. long ; pods quite smooth. 



