British Wild Flowers and Trees 225 



spots, it might be grown with advantage where it does 

 not come of itself. Some say it is the Shamrock of the 

 ancienf Irish, but they are wrong. Custom among the 

 Irish, during the experience of the oldest people, and 

 everything that can be gleaned, point to the common 

 trifolium as the true Shamrock. 



In the Pea order there are a few plants of great merit, 

 and the first we meet with is the very pretty dwarf 

 shrub Genista tinctoria, or Dyer's genista. This is 

 a little shrub, but vigorous in the profusion of its 

 yellow flowers, and would be at home on any rough 

 banks or grassy places, or among dwarf shrubs. It is 

 frequent in England, but rare in Scotland and Ireland. 

 Its two allies, G. pilosa and G. anglica, are also neat 

 little shrubs, both worth a place among dwarf British 

 shrubs. 



Many who care for wild flowers must have been 

 struck with the beauty of the common Restharrow, 

 which spreads such delicate colour over many a chalk 

 cliff and sandy pasture. It bears garden culture well, 

 and is prettier when in flower than numbers of New 

 Holland plants, which require protection. There is 

 a smoother and more bushy form of this sometimes 

 admitted as a species, Ononis antiquorum, which is 

 also a fine plant, growing freely from seed, and of 

 the easiest culture. 



The Bird's-foot trefoil, though common, is so beautiful 

 that it must not be forgotten, flowering as it does nearly 

 the whole summer. There are several forms and few 



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