A Very Intki.lkjknt Plant 



169 



could take a casual bite at it. TIji- j^orsi- was, 

 tlicTcforo, (Irivni juTforie into producing tli(»riiy 

 luauclR's which would rcpd its Iocs, while the 

 genista retained the old soft silky shoots and 

 broad trefoil folia«^e. 

 Hrooni, which is a close 

 relation of both these 

 plants, with much the 

 same yellow peatlowers 

 and hairy pods, occu- 

 pies to some extent an 

 intermediate position 

 between the two types. 

 The younj^ shoots have 

 leaves of three leallets, 

 as shown in No. 6 ; but 

 the older branches are 

 covered with leaves of 

 a sinj^le leaflet apiece, 

 like the second form 

 produced by the j^orse 

 plant. The trefoil leaves 

 of the broom also 

 closely resemble those 

 of the labunuun, which jf^ 

 is another and more no. 6.— us sKroND rmsiN, 

 tree-like descendant of '"^ hk"<'m- 



the same ancient an- 

 cestor, with similar yellow blossoms, and pods and 

 beans of much the same character. It is interest- 

 inj4 to observe in a family of this sort how the 

 young seedlings aie in everv case almost identical, 



