Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



" Approach it not 



For every blossom has a troop of swords 

 Drawn to defend it." 



In the Gorse there are no leaves in the ordinarily 

 accepted sense of the word, for they have all been 

 turned into hard, sharp spines. The only time when 

 one sees a normal leaf on the plant is in its earliest 

 infancy. It is a very interesting point that the first 

 leaves that are produced after the emergence from seed 

 are formed of three tender leaflets, for the Gorse origin- 

 ally started at peace with the world, but the exigencies 

 of existence, its place on dry commons liable to be 

 browsed over by hungry animals where sustenance is 

 scarce, has thrown it into a state of perpetual defence, 

 and caused it to eschew any attempt at juicy foliage 

 after the first immature effort of a seedling. Henceforth 

 it produces nothing but stiff spines. Its very name 

 " Gorse " has reference to this, for it is derived from 

 a Gaelic word signifying " a sharp point." " Gorst " 

 and " Goss " are provincial corruptions that are often 

 heard. The names " Furze " " Vuzz " in Devon par- 

 lance and " Whin " are also used to denote the plant, 

 their exact significance being rather uncertain. 



A great advantage of the Gorse as a garden shrub 

 is that it is evergreen both as regards spines and 

 branches, and though there is no foliage effect, as in 

 the laurel or the escallonia, there is none of the bare- 



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