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. 



at C. s. 2 dibits Hort. has the flowers white, or of a very pale yellow, 

 a C. s. 'ijlore pleno Hort. has flowers slightly double. 



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

 leaves are trifoliolateor 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. Thougli 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 v/ere 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 INI. 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 fcop&rius. 



iii. Cahjcutome Link. 



art of 



ivation From halyx, a calyx, and tome, a cutting ; in Reference to the calyx, the upper part of 

 hich, after some time, falls off, in such a manner as to give the remainder the appearance ol bemg 



Der 

 wh 

 cut round. 



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

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

 and yellow flowers. {Dec. Prod.) 



Webb Iter 



Sk 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. ; 



Hispan., 51. 

 Si/noni/>ne. Spartium spinbsum Lin. Sp. 997. ^ v, t o * os ,,,^ , fir, M-vn 



Engravings. J. Bauh. Hist., 1. p. 2. p. 376., icon. ; Lob. Icon., 2. t. 95. ; and our Jig. 3-W, 



Spec. Char., Src Branches angled, spiny. Leaves trifoliolate ; 

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

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

 from Perpignan to Oeiioa, 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. mo. c. spinbsus. 



