J58 THE PEAFLOWEB TEIBE. 



No thorns. Pod narrow, mnch flattened. 



Corolla and pods without hairs. Branches erect or ascending .... 1. Dyer'i O, 



Corolla and pods hairy. Branches mostly prostrate 2. Hairy G. 



Xjower branches very thorny. Pod short and inflated 3. Needle O. 



1. Dyer's Genista. Genista tinctoria, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 44. Greenweed.) 



Stems woody, branching and decumbent at the base, the flowering 

 branches erect or ascending, 1 to 1^ feet high, hard and stiff, but green. 

 Leaves sessile, from narrow-lanceolate to broadly elliptical or nearly ovate, 

 glabrous or nearly so, and often shining. Flowers in short racemes at the 

 ends of the branches, each one shortly stalked in the axil of a lanceolate 

 bract, with very smaU bracteoles below the flowers. Calyx short, all the 

 teeth ending in a short, fine point, the upper 3 broadly lanceolate, the 3 

 lower very narrow. Petals about 6 Hnes long. Pod nearly an inch long, 

 flattened, and quite glabrous. 



In pastures, thickets, and waste places, throughout central and southern 

 Europe, across Russian Asia to the Baikal, and northward to southern 

 Sweden. Frequent in the greater part of England, rare in Scotland and 

 Ireland. Fl. summer, rather early. The common form is erect, with lan- 

 ceolate leaves ; in rich meadows it becomes very luxuriant, with ovate leaves ; 

 in dry rocky soils the stem is more branched, and almost prostrate, like the 

 hairy O., from which it is always known by its more pointed leaves, and 

 glabrous flowers and pods. 



2. Hairy Genista. Genista pilosa, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 208.) 



Stems woody and prostrate, with numerous short, hard branches. Leaves 

 shortly obovate or lanceolate, obtuse, glabrous above, but covered under- 

 neath with short, silky hairs. Flowers smaller than in the Dyer's G., of a 

 bright yellow, on short pedicels in the axils of the last year's leaves. Calyx 

 sUky. Petals also covered outside with sUky hairs. Pod rather shorter 

 and broader than in the Dyer's G., thickly covered with longish hairs, 

 which are appressed and sUty when young, more spreading as the pod 

 ripens. 



In pastures, heaths, and dry, gravelly or stony places, common in central 

 and southern Europe to the Caucasus, extending northward to southern 

 Sweden. Rare in Britain, and only recorded from Pembrokeshire, Corn- 

 wall, and Devonshire, in the west, and Sussex and Suffolk, in the east of 

 England. Fl. spring or early summer. 



3. Needle Genista. Genista anglica, Linn. 

 (Eng. Bot. t. 132. FeUy Whin.) 



A small, loosely branched, spreading shrub, seldom a foot high, perfectly 

 glabrous, the lower branches converted into short, but slender, simple or 

 branched thorns. Leaves small, lanceolate or ovate. Flowers few, in 

 short, leafy racemes, paler and smaller than in the Dyer's G. ; the teeth of 

 the calyx less unequal ; the petals narrow, and often turning green in drying. 

 Pods about 6 lines long, broad, and much inflated. 



On heaths, moors, and bushy pastures, in western Europe, extending 

 eastward to Denmark and north-western Germany. Frequent in England 

 and the greater part of Scotland, but not recorded from Ireland. Fl. spring 

 and early summer, and sometimes again later in the year. 



