6 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



crop of young shoots, which are readily eaten by cattle. In some parts of England 

 it is usual to put the Furze bushes into a mill to crush the thorns, and then to feed 

 horses and cows with the branches. When finely cut or crushed, sheep will readily eat 

 it. As a picturesque hedge, the Furze is very appropriate, and is extremely beautiful 

 when in blossom. In plantations it is frequently sown as a shelter to very young trees ou 

 their first planting, also as a cover for game. In calm and sunny weather the crackling 

 of Furze bushes caused by the explosion of their elastic pods is distiuctly audible. 



" The path with laughing Furze o'errun, 

 When bursting seed-bells crackle in the sun." 



English poets have not failed to sing the praises of this common plant, whose 

 scent, resembling somewhat that of the heliotrope, perfumes the air for a distance, and 

 whose golden blossoms, often contrasting with the purple blossoms of the heath growing 

 near it, must attract the admiration of every wayfarer. Cowper says : — 



" The common, overgrown with fern, and rough 

 With prickly gorse, that, shapeless and deformed, 

 And dangerous to the touch, has yet its bloom, 

 And decks itself with ornaments of gold, 

 Yields no unpleasiug ramble." 



SPECIES IL—U LEX NANUS. Forst. 

 Plates CCCXXIV. CCCXXV. 



Stem decumbent. Branches spreading or drooping, shaggy. 

 Primary spines recurved-spreading, faintly furrowed or striate. 

 Bracts roundish-ovate, rijth as long as the calyx, and in width 

 not exceeding the breadth of the pedicel. Calyx pubescent. 

 Wings about equal to the keel, or very slightly exceeding it. Pod 

 about as long as or shorter than the calyx, matured in the season 

 succeeding that in which its flower was produced. 



Sub-Species I.— Ulex Gallii. Planch. 



Plate CCCXXIV. 



Planch. Ann. Bot. ser. iii. Vol. XI. p. 213. 



U. nanus, (i Gallii, Auct. Plur. 



TJ. provincialis, Legall, Fl. de Morbihan (non Lois.). 



Branches ascending, nearly straight, or slightly drooping. 

 Primary spines strong, slightly furrowed. Wings rather longer 

 than the keel, curved. 



On heaths and downs, local, and chiefly confined to the West 

 of the Island, where it occurs from Somersetshire to Wigtownshire. 

 On the East it is only known to occur in the county of North- 

 umberland. 



England, Scotland. Shrub. Autumn. 



