Leguminosce Genista. 1 1 9 



none, very rarely 3-foliolate. Calyx campanulate, the upper 

 lobes free or connate. The claws of the lower petals con- 

 nected with the staminal tube. Keel usually bent downwards. 

 Pod short or long, flat or swollen. About seventy species are 

 described, inhabiting Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. 

 Some derive the name from the Celtic gen, a bush ; and others 

 from the Latin genu, a knee. 



1. 0. alba, syn. Spdrtium album, 8. multiflbrum, and 

 Gytisus dlbus. Portugal Broom. A hand some species growing 

 about 4 to 6 feet high, with numerous slender slightly fur- 

 rowed erect branches and few scattered leaves of 1 or 3 small 

 hairy leaflets. Flowers very abundant, white or pink, produced 

 from May onwards for a considerable period. A native of 

 Spain and Portugal, and the most desirable of its class. 



2. G. sagittdlis. This is a very peculiar and interesting 

 plant, in which the leaves are replaced by a foliaceous or 

 winged jointed stem. It grows about a foot high, and bears 

 terminal erect few-flowered racemes of yellow flowers in May 

 or June. 



3. G. tinctoria. Greenweed. A native species and one of 

 the handsomest. A spineless shrub from 1 to 2 feet high with 

 unifoliolate nearly glabrous leaves and a profusion of yellow 

 flowers from July till September. There is a good double- 

 flowered variety of this. 



4. 6r. radidta, syn. Spdrtium radidtum. A slender shrub 

 about 1 8 inches high with opposite branches, 3-foliolate leaves, 

 narrow leaflets, and terminal heads of yellov/ flowers. A native 

 of Italy, flowering in Summer. 



8. SPARTIUM. 



As here limited, this genus consists of only one species. It 

 differs from Genista in having a spathaceous calyx, with the two 

 upper short teeth free, and the three lower united into a lip, 

 the keel incurved, and the pod narrower. The name is from 

 o-TrdpToV) the Greek appellation of this or a similar plant, and 

 the cord made from it. 



1. S. junceum, syn. Genista Hispdnica, Spartidnthus 

 junceus. Spanish Broom. This shrub is a very old inhabitant 

 of English gardens. It very much resembles the Common 

 Broom, but the slender twiggy branches are terete and not 

 angular, and usually leafless. The few leaves produced are 1- 

 foliolate, small, and linear-lanceolate. Flowers large, yellow, 



