960 CYTISUS. [CLASS XVIT. ORDER 111. 
according to Pliny, so called on account of its having been 
brought from Cythnos, one of the Cyclades. 
J. C. scopa'rius, Link. (Fig, 1112.) Common Broom. Branches 
angular, smooth ; leaves ternate, stalked, the upper ones simple ; 
leaflets oblong; flowers axillary, solitary; pedicles short; legumes 
hairy on the margin. 
Hooker, British Flora, ed. 4. vol, i. p. 267.—Lindley, Synopsis, p. 
77.—De Cand. Prod. 2.p.154.—Spartium scoparium, Linn.—English 
Botany, t. 1339.—English Flora, vol. iii. p. 260.—Genista scoparia, 
Lam. dict. 
A shrub, from three to eight feet high, its branches numerous, long, 
straight, angular, smooth, tough and pliant, its bark a dark green 
colour. eaves scattered, ternate, stalked, the upper ones mostly 
simple, clothed with silky pubescence when young, leaflets equal, 
obovate, obtuse, entire. Inflorescence solitary, or in pairs, axillary 
flowers. Flowers numerous towards the top of the branches. 
Pedicles round, smooth, slender, drooping. Calyx of two obtuse 
lips, the upper one entire, the lower three toothed, the lateral ones 
converging inwards. Corolla large, handsome, of a bright yellow 
colour, sometimes tinged with orange, the feel broad, obtuse, the 
vexillum large, ovate, and the wings spreading. laments all united 
into a tube, but soon split, as the germen enlarges. Legume large, 
compressed, dark brown, the sides almost smooth, with the margins 
fringed with rough hairs. 
Habitat.—Dry sandy hills, thickets, and bushy places ; frequent. 
Shrub ; flowering in May and June. 
Broom and its allied species appear to have been favourite plants 
with the Greeks and Romans. Its flowers were esteemed among the 
favourites of bees. Aristomachus says, that wherever the plant which 
they called Cytisus grows, there is no fear. of the bees leaving their 
hives: and such an authority we cannot doubt, for it is stated by 
Pliny that he was so fond of bees that he devoted fifty-eight years of 
his life in raising swarms. He also extolled the value of this plant in 
pastures, as producing better milk, and as a preservative against all 
kinds of diseases in cattle; and that where it grew, the cattle, with 
a less quantity of food, in a very short time became much fatter than 
when fed in better pastures. The twigs and leaves of the Broom are 
bitter and tonic, while at the same time they contain a large propor- 
tion of alkaline salt: so that while they provoke the appetite, and 
stimulate the digestive organs, they excite the secretory glands to 
greater exertion to carry off the superfluous fluids: and a decoction 
made of the twigs and leaves will, no doubt, have the same effect 
upon tke human body, and influence the lacteal secretion. It has 
been used in this form in cases of dropsy, and sometimes with great 
success. The bark contains so large a proportion of tannin that it is 
said to be capable of tanning leather. The unexpanded flower buds 
