Leguminose—CGenista. 119 
none, very rarely 3-foliolate. Calyx campanulate, the upper 
lobes free or connate. The claws of the lower petals con- 
nected with the staminal tube. Keel usually bent downwards. 
Pod short or long, flat or swollen. About seventy species are 
described, inhabiting Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. 
Some derive the name from the Celtic gen, a bush; and others 
from the Latin genu, a knee. 
1. G. alba, syn. Spartium dlbum, S. multiflorwm, and 
Cytisus dlbus. Portugal Broom.—A handsome species growing 
about 4 to 6 feet high, with numerous slender slightly fur- 
rowed erect branches and few scattered leaves of 1 or 3 small 
hairy leaflets. Flowers very abundant, white or pink, produced 
from May onwards for a considerable period. A native of 
Spain and Portugal, and the most-desirable of its class. 
2. G. sagittalis——This is a very peculiar and interesting 
plant, in which the leaves are replaced by a foliaceous or 
winged jointed stem. It grows about a foot high, and bears 
terminal erect few-flowered racemes of yellow flowers in May 
or June. 
3. G. tenctoria. Greenweed.—A native species and one of 
the handsomest. A spineless shrub from 1 to 2 feet high with 
unifoliolate nearly glabrous leaves and a profusion of yellow 
flowers from July till September. There is a good double- 
flowered variety of this. 
4. G. radiata, syn. Spadrtium radiatwm.—A slender shrub 
about 18 inches high with opposite branches, 3-foliolate leaves, 
narrow leaflets, and terminal heads of yellov, flowers. A native 
of Italy, flowering in Summer. 
8. SPARTIUM. 
As here limited, this genus consists of only one species. It 
differs from Genista in having a spathaceous calyx, with the two 
upper short teeth free, and the three lower united into a lip, 
the keel incurved, and the pod narrower. The name is from 
oraptov, the Greek appellation of this or a similar plant, and 
the cord made from it. 
1. S. jtinceum, syn. Genista Hispdnica, Spartidnthus 
janceus. Spanish Broom.—This shrub is a very old inhabitant 
of English gardens. It very much resembles the Common 
Broom, but the slender twiggy branches are terete and not 
angular, and usually leafless. The few leaves produced are 1- 
foliolate, small, and linear-lanceolate. -Flowers large, yellow, 
