XXV. LEGUMINA^CE^ : CT'tiSUS. 



215 



tdait'jicatwn. Lin. Sp., 1041.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. l.'iS. ; Don's Mill,, 2. p. 154. 



Synonymes. C. alplnus Xcot. Fl. Fr. 2. p. 621.; Bean-trefoile Tree, and Peascod Tree, Gerard ; 

 Pea Tree, Scotch ; Golden Chain ; 1' Aubours, faux E'benier, Arbois, or Arc-Bois, Fr. ; gemelne 

 Bohnenbaum, Ger. ; Aborniello, Ilal. 



Derivation. The name of L'Aubours, which is given to this tree in Dauphine and Switzerland, is 

 supposed by Du Hamel to be a corruption of the Latin word laburnum. The word Arbois is 

 a corruption of arc-bois, the wood of this tree having been used by the ancient Gauls to make 

 their bows ; and being still so employed by the country people, in some parts ot the Maconnois, 

 where these bows are found to preserve their strength and elasticity during half a century. The 

 name of Faux E'benier is applied to the wood, from the blackness of its heart-wood. The German 

 name signifies Bean Tree ; and both it and the English and Scotch names of Bean-trefoile and Peas- 

 cod Tree have reference to the shape of the leaves and the legumes. The name of Golden Chain 

 alludes to the length of the drooping racemes of flowers, which, as Cowper elegantly describes 

 the 1, are " rich in streaming gold." 



Engraimigs. Jacq. Aust., t. 306. ; Bot. Mag., t. 176. ; N. Du Ham., 5. t. 44. ; the plate of this tree 

 in .^rb. Brit.. 1st edit., vol. v. ; and our ^ig. 340. 



Spec. Char., Sfc. Branches terete, whitish. Leaves petiolate ; leaflets ovate-lan- 

 ceolate, pubescent beneath. Racemes pendulous, simple. Pedicels and ca- 

 ly.xes clothed with closely pressed pubescence. Legume linear, many-seeded, 

 clothed with closely pressed pubescence. A low deciduous tree. Native of 

 Europe, on the lower mountains of the South of Germany, and of Switzerland. 

 Height 20 ft. or upwards. Introduced in 1596. Flowers yellow ; May and 

 June. Legume dark brown ; ripe in October. Decaying leaves yellow. Naked 

 young wood green. 



Varieties. 



3f C. L. 2 pendulum Hort. has slender pendulous branches. 

 If C. L. 3 quercifoliuin Hort., C. L. 2 incisum, has sinuated leaflets, not 

 unlike the leaves of the common oak. (See the plate of this variety 

 in Ai'b. Brit., 1st edit., vol. v.; and our^g. 341.) 



341. Cftisus LaMimum juercifiilium. 



If C. L. 4 foliis variegatis has variegated leaves ; but it is a plant of no 

 beauty, and rarely seen in collections. 



2 C. L. 5 fragrans Hort. Flowers fragrant. Wherever a number of 

 laburnums are found in flower together, whether of this or the other 

 species, the scent of the blossoms will be found to differ very con- 

 siderably, and occasionally one may be found which may be termed 

 fragrant ; hence the origin of this variety, 



t 3. C. (L.) alpi'nus Mill. The Alpine, or Scotch, Laburnum. 



Identification. Mill. Diet.. No. 2. ; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 153. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 154. , , ,,- 



Synonymes. C. Laburnum ^ Ait., Lam., Dec, 1-1. Fr.; Cytisus angustifolius Mcench Meth. 145. ; 



p 4 



