LEGUMINOS^: 69 



Order XXVIIL LEGUMINOS<E. 



Sepals 5, connate; seed-vessel a legume. All the 

 European genera (with two exceptions) belong to the 

 sub-order PAPILIONACE^E. Flowers irregular, pea-like 

 (standard, keel, and two wings) ; stamens 10, all united 

 into a sheath, or the uppermost distinct ; leaves alternate, 

 stipulate (stipules sometimes deciduous), nearly always 

 compound. One of the largest natural orders, distri- 

 buted over every part of the globe, in all climates and 

 at all altitudes. 



Tribe GENISTE^E. Leaves simple or of three leaflets, 

 without tendrils, sometimes o; all the 10 filaments united 

 (monadelphous) ; mostly shrubs. Genera 1-5. 



i. ULEX, L. 



Young leaves of 3 leaflets, later ones transformed into 

 spines; flowers yellow, axillary; calyx membranous, bi- 

 partite. Spiny shrubs ; not alpine. 



U. europceus, L., Gorse, Furze; Geneva, Ticino; very 

 rare. 



2. SPARTIUM, L. 



Calyx resembling a spathe, ending in 5 small teeth ; 

 standard orbicular. Not alpine. 



S. junceum, L. ; flowers large, yellow, appearing before 

 the leaves, leaves few, scattered, with oblong or linear 

 leaflets ; a shrub 3-5 ft., with slender branches, not spiny ; 

 Pyrenees. 



