106 FAJlILIAIi GABTlEN FLOU'ERS. 



greeiihoiise ma^' perhaps be found Bo-isirea riifa, which has 

 flattened stems, and does very well without leaves projier. 



The winged-stemmed broom {(linilda sagilhilis) is a 

 native of Europe, and quite hardy in the English garden. 

 It will thrive in almost any soil, liut must have a. sunny 

 situation. Its hahit is jjrocumbent, and therefore it is not 

 quite a good border plant, and, moreover, its curious and 

 interesting character cannot be fully displayed in a border. 

 The best place for it is a sunn}' ledge of a good rockery, 

 where it can spread without looking untidy, and 23erhaps 

 hang over and show its heads of flowers and winged stems 

 to advantage. To increase the stock, the plant may be 

 divided in the rocjt, but a much better way is to sow the 

 seeds in the autumn in a frame, and in the following 

 autumn put out the plants where they are to remain to 

 ilower. 



How the broom came to be called genista no one can 

 tell ; the accejited derivation is from the Latin f/eiiii , 

 the knee, but we fail to see in any of the r/eriiKla.s a 

 justification, for the only suggestion of a knee is to be 

 found in their flexibility, and there are so many flexible 

 j)lants that there seems to be no special reason for noticing 

 in the name the bending power of this genus in particular. 

 The Plantagenets associated the history of their house with 

 the common broom, which we incline to regard as the most 

 splendid of all the wildings of Northern Europe. The 

 (irst of the race to come under the shadow of the golden 

 broom was Gefroi, Duke of Anjou, father of our Henry II. 

 He playfully adorned himself when on Ihe field of battle 

 with a sprig of flowery broom, or, as it has been said, " he 

 wore commonly a broom stalke in his bonnet.'' Thus he 

 came to be called " Plantagenet," from the Pldiila getiiata. 



