Beautiful Flowering Shrubs 



in the dryest situations, and flowers in the late summer 

 and on into the autumn. There is a double variety. 

 This broom grew in English gardens in Queen 

 Elizabeth's day, and its flowers and seeds were given 

 with honey as an emetic by the herbalists of the time. 



The Genistas (Gen signifies "a small bush" in 

 Celtic) are very closely allied to the Brooms, and grow 

 under similar conditions and, indeed, are difficult to 

 distinguish from them. There are very many species, 

 but the chief shrubs for garden purposes are the Rock 

 Broom, Genista cetnensis, which grows on the slopes 

 of Mount Etna in Sicily and was brought to England 

 in 1816, one of the tallest and most tree-like of its 

 kind, being often fourteen to sixteen feet high, and 

 rather gaunt ; the Genista cinera, a graceful slender 

 shrub with rather smaller flowers; and Genista virgata, 

 which came from Madeira in 1777, tall and rather 

 straggling. All three carry sweet-scented yellow flowers 

 and can be seen with great effect at Kew in June 

 massed in their respective beds making blazes of colour 

 that are visible from afar. G. cinera has few leaves, 

 G. mrgata is better off in this respect. All these 

 Genistas seed freely and grow well from seed. 



The so-called Spanish Gorse Genista hispanica 

 " one of the most indispensable shrubs in the south 

 of England/' says Mr. Bean, is really a Genista that 

 has taken on the defensive attitude of a gorse and 



