4 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



incorporated with the leaves so as to be undistinguishable. Flowers 

 axillary, yellow. 



The generic name is said to be derived from ac, a point, in Celtic, in reference to 

 the prickly branches. 



SPECIES I— ULEX EUROP^US. Linn. 

 Plate CCCXXIII. 



Stem sub-erect. Branches spreading or ascending, sparingly 

 hairy. Primary spines straight, ascending, very deeply furrowed. 

 Bracts deltoid-ovate, one-sixth the length of the calyx, and in width 

 twice the breadth of the pedicel. Calyx densely shaggy. Wings 

 longer than the keel, curved over it at the apex. Pod longer 

 than the calyx, matured in the same year which has produced its 

 flower. 



Var. a, vulgaris. 



Branches mostly spreading. Primary spines strong, with many 

 ridges. 



Var. 3, strictus. 



TJlex strictus, Mac. Bab. Man. Brit. Bot. ed. iii. p. 69. 



Branches erect. Primary spines slender, 4i-edged. 



On heaths, commons, and banks, and in dry fields or outskirts 

 of woods. Very common, and generally distributed ; except in the 

 extreme North of Scotland. Var. only in Lord Londonderry's 

 Park, county Down. 



England, Scotland, Ireland. Shrub. Winter and Spring. 



Stem woody, 3 to 6 feet high, with very numerous stiff 

 branches. Pt^imary spines (abortive branches) 1 to 3 inches long, 

 very deeply furrowed, with prominent ridges between the furrows, 

 except at the spinous subulate tip ; secondary spines simple, \ to 

 •J inch long, decreasing in size as they approach the apex of the 

 primary spine. Trifoliate leaves only present on the plant imme- 

 diately after germination on petioles i to ^ inch long, with 3 oblan- 

 ceolate acute hairy leaflets ; all the subsequent leaves, which appear 

 to consist entirely of petiole, about \ inch long, channelled above 

 nearly to the apex, which terminates in a subulate spine. Flowers 

 bright yellow, f inch long, on short shaggy pedicels, solitary and 

 in pairs chiefly on the jjrimary spines, or near the base of the 

 secondary spines irregularly racemose or paniculate. Bracts loosely 

 applied to tlie calyx. Calyx yellowish-olive with blackish hairs, 

 divided on each side to the base, faintly nerved, the upper segment 

 with 2 very indistinct teeth at the apex, the lower one with 3 



