Ulex.] LEGUMINOS^. 109 



Order XXIII. LEGUMINOS^, Juss. 



" Calyx of 4 — 5 sepals, more or less combined, the fifth segment 

 inferior. Petals various, generally 5 and papilionaceous. Sta- 

 mens various, generally 10, monadelphous or diadelphous. Ovary 

 1- celled, bearing the ovules along the upper margin, sometimes 

 stalked. Style and stigma 1. Legume 2-valved, dehiscent or 

 indehiscent. Seeds usually without albumen. Embryo with the 

 radicle straight or recurved upon the cotyledons. — Trees, herbs, 

 or shrubs. Leaves alternate, mostly compound and pinnated, with 

 or ivithout tendrils, stipuled." — Br. Fl. 



Tribe I. Lote^. 



Stamens monadelphous or diadelphous. Legume continuous {not 

 jointed), 1-celled, or by the introflexion of one of the sutures spuri- 

 ously 2-celled. Cotyledons rising above ground and becoming green 

 leaves. 



Subtribe I. Geniste^. 



Legume l-celled. Stamens mostly monadelphous , Leaves simple or trifoliate, 

 rarely pinnate. Stems generally shrubby. 



A. Stems woody. 



I. Ulex, Linn. Furze. 



" Calyx 2-lipped, with a small scale or hractea on each side at 

 the base ; lips nearly entire or upper one 3 - toothed, lower 

 3-tootbed. Legume turgid, few-seeded, scarcely longer than the 

 calyx. Leaves simple." — Br. Fl. 



1. U. europ<BUS,* L. Common or Spring Furze. Whin or Qorse. 

 Calyx somewhat hirsute with slightly spreading hairs the teeth 

 nearly obsolete, bracteas large ovate lax, wings manifestly longer 

 than the keel and imbricated over it. Br. Fl. p. 94. E. B. t. 

 742. Guimp. und Hayne, Abbild. der. Deutsch. Holtzart. ii. 164, 

 t. 123. 



Var. (3. Flowers pale yellow. 



On heaths, commons and dry barren fields and pastures, also in woods, hedges 

 and waste places, by roadsides, &c. ; everywhere most abundantly. Fl. April, 

 May, and partially throughout the year.f Fr. July. Tj . 



|8. St. Helen's Spit. 



* Pliny (apud Hard) makes Ulex masculine, Ainsworth, feminine, 

 t The almost endless succession of flowers on this well-known shrub gave_ occa- 

 sion to the proverb, " When furze is out of blossom, kissing's out of season." An 



