8 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



wings and keel ; keel obtuse, with a saccate impression above the 

 claw, at last reflexed. Stamens monadelphous. Style subulate, 

 curved at the summit. Stigma lateral at the apex of the style on 

 the inside. Pod oblong or linear-oblong, compressed or swollen, 

 exserted. Seeds generally numerous, with the funiculus generally 

 scarcely dilated at the hilum. 



Small shrubs, with or without spines. Leaves commonly uni- 

 foliate, or more rarely trifoliate, with small or inconspicuous 

 stipules. Flowers yellow, terminal and axillary ; solitary, or 

 more commonly in spike-like racemes. 



The derivation of the name of this genus is variously given. One writer says it 

 comes from genu, the knee, in allusion to the angular or jointed appearance of its 

 twigs ; another, that it is derived from the Celtic word gen, a small bush. 



SPECIES I.— G E N I S T A ANGLICA. Linn. 

 Plate CCCXXVI. 



Stems shrubby, branched ; branches erect or ascending, wiry, 

 glabrous, spinous. Leaves glabrous, tmifoliate : those of the young 

 shoots oval or elliptical, those upon the spines elliptical-linear. 

 Stipules obsolete. Flowers axillary, arranged so as to form lax 

 racemes. Calyx glabrous, with broadly triangular teeth, entirely 

 persistent. Corolla glabrous. Pod ovoid, tvu-gid, glabrous. 



On heaths and commons. Rather frequent and generally dis- 

 tributed, but not extending so far North as Orkney. 



England, Scotland. Shrub. Spring and early Summer. 



Rootstock woody. Stems P inches to 2 feet high, rather 

 slender, spinous and leafless below in old plants, the branches 

 densely leafy, the younger and flowering ones without spines, the 

 older portions with slender spines from ^ to 1 inch long. Leaves 

 shortly stalked, somewhat leathery, |^ to ^ inch long, elliptical ; 

 but those on the spines or abortive lateral branches much nar- 

 rower. Pedicels scarcely so long as the calyx. Flowers about 

 \ inch long, yellow. Calyx glabrous, the upper lip with two oblong- 

 triangular teeth, the lower with three triangular equal teeth. 

 Standard glabrous, keel longer than the standard and wings. Pod 

 reddish-broirtTi tinged with green, falling out of the calyx readily 

 when ripe, f inch long, swollen so as to be nearly cylindrical, not 

 bossulated, much curved towards the base on the upper side, 

 truncate obliquely upwards at the apex, which terminates in a 

 beak. Seeds 6 to 10, ovoid, black, shining. Foliage delicate pea- 

 green. Plant glabrous. 



Needle Furze, Petty Whin. 



French, GenH Anglais. German, Englisclier Ginsi, 



