SPARTIUM. 



Jpile, or chpr, of yeWo^foivers, become very (harp thorns. 

 The Uanies are moll of them fimple, on (hort Italics, nearly 

 fmooth ; fome of the lower ones ternate. Corolla fmooth, 

 ohlontj and flender, fomewhat like Genijla tinSona. Calyx 

 eloneated. Germen filvery. Legume about an inch and a 

 half "long, linear, (lightly curved, clothed with (hort, clofe- 

 prelTed, lioary hairs. Seeds numerous. 



24. S./finofum. Prickly Broom. Linn. Sp. PI. 997. 

 Wiiid. n. 23. Ait. n. 16. Desfont. Atlant. v. 2. 135. 

 (Acacia altera Diofcoridis ; Lob. Ic. v. 2. 95. A. altera 

 trifolia; Ger. Em. 1330. A. altera; Matth. Valgr. v. i. 

 176.) — Leaves ternate, ftalked, obovate. Flowers axillary. 

 Calyx fmooth. Branches Itriated, with alternate, Ipread- 

 iiig, angular, furrowed thorns. Legume oblong, fmooth. — 

 Native of Italy, Spain, and Barbary. Gerarde appears to 

 have cultivated it in 1 596, and it is marked by Mr. Aiton, as 

 a greenhoule (hrub, flowering in June and July ; but we have 

 feldom met with it in coUeftions. The whole bufh is armed 

 with very (trong, long and (harp thorns, fpreading in every 

 direiSion. Leaves on long (talks, each of three equal, 

 broadi(h-obovate, fometimes emarginate, leaflets ; rather 

 hairy beneath. Floiuers half the iize of S. fcoparium, foli- 

 tary or aggregate, (talked. Calyx membranous, with ob- 

 folete teeth. Legume pendulous, comprelfed, thick-edged, 

 (lightly tumid, fmooth, an inch and a half long, with from 

 two to (our feeds. 



25. S. villo/um. Hairy.podded Thorny Broom. Vahl 

 Symb. V. 2. 80. Willd. n. 24. Sm. Fl. Grace. Sibth. 

 t. 673, unpubliflied. (S. lanigerum ; Desfont. Atlant. v. 2. 

 135. Cylifus fpinofus creticus, filiqua villis denfiHtmis lon- 

 gilhmis et incanis obdufta ; Tourn. Cor. 44.) — Leaves ter- 

 nate, (talked, obovate. Flowers axillary. Calyx hairy. 

 Branches furrowed, fpinous, downy. Legume linear-oblong, 

 very hairy. — Native of Gibraltar, Barbary, and Crete. Dr. 

 Sibthorp found it every where in Greece and the ifles of the 

 Archipelago, where it is known by the names of ao-TaXolo,-, 

 or ctT-^aAxiinx, and he judged it to be the ajTry.Xaii; of 

 Diofcorides. This fpecies flowers in its native country in 

 April. We have never met with a garden fpecimen. The 

 habit of the whole plant is like the la(f, but the /pines are 

 all terminations of branches, which are finely downy, and 

 neatly ftriated. In the Jlowers we fcarcely obferve a dif- 

 ference, except the denfe hairinefs of the calyx; but the 

 germen is excefTively hairy, and the legume di{fers effentially 

 in its narrower, more linear, form, and its denfe cloathing, 

 of long (haggy hairs. 



26. S. horridum. Many-thonied Broom. Vahl Symb. 

 V. I. 51. Willd. n. 25. Sm. Fl. Gra;c. Sibth. t. 674, un- 

 publiihed — Leaves ternate, linear, folded, filky. Branches 

 oppoiite, aggregate, furrowed, fpinous. Flowers lateral. 

 Legume ovate, hairy as well as the calyx. — Native of Spain, 

 as well as of hills in Greece and the Archipelago. This is 

 a very denfely branchedyjrui, like a furze bufh, befet with 

 innumerable, thorny, cluitered, fomewhat hairy, branches, 

 bearing a very few and fmall leaves. The Jlowers are yellow, 

 but half the fize of the laft, placed two or three on each 

 young branch, near its point. Calyx pale, two-lipped, 

 hairy, as well as the ieel, and little, tawny, ovate or rhom- 

 boid, pointed legume, which fcarcely contains more than one 

 feed. 



The 5. complicalum, lAnn. Sp. PI. 996, is now Cyli/us 

 divaricatus, Willd. Sp. PI. v. 3. 11 19. Ait. Hort. Kew. 

 V. 4. 319. Curt. Mag. t. 1387. Sm. Fl. Grsec. Sibth. 

 t. 704, unpubhihed. — Cylifus dilfers from Spurtium in having 

 the Jilaments feparated to the very bottom, into two diltinft 

 fets, and the germen (talked. There is a general refemblance 

 in habit between fome of the fpecies to each other. More 



difficulty exids in diftinguifhing Spartium and Genijla ; the 

 latter being charafterized chiefly by the deprelFn n of it* 

 organs of impregnation along with the keel, while the Jlandarit 

 is ftrongly divaricated. The involute_/?/^ma, and the Jlament 

 not being attached to the germen, are lefs obvious dillinc- 

 tions. See Genista. 



Three Linnasan fpecies of Sparlium, as we have already 

 hinted, named conlaminatum, fepiarium, and cytifeides, with 

 one from the firft edition of Alton, fericeum, all natives of 

 the Cape of Good Hope, are removed by Thunberg from 

 hence, and eftablifhed, with four other (hrubs from the fame 

 country, as a didinft genus, named Lebeckia, in Thun- 

 bcrg's Prodromus, and in Willd. Sp. PL v. 3. 946. Ait. 

 Hort. Kew. v. 4. 261. This ranges next after Geni/la, and 

 i< defined as follows. 



Eff. Ch. Calyx in five deep acute fegments, w^ith rounded 

 finufes. Filaments monadelphous. Legume cylindrical, with 

 many feeds. 



Seftion I. Leaves Jimple. 



1. L,. contaminata. Narrow-leaved Lebeckia. Willd. n. i. 

 Ait. n. I. (Spartium contaminatum ; Linn. Mant. 268.) — 

 Leaves fimple, linear-thread (haped, fmooth, ftained at the 

 bafe. Flowers racemofe. — Native of fandy ground at the 

 Cape. Stem flirubby, branched, fmooth and round. Leaver 

 alternate, an inch and a half or two inches long, acute, 

 glaucous ; flattilh above ; purple at the bafe. Flowers in 

 a long, fimple, terminal clufter, orange-coloured, with 3 

 yellow keel. The Jlamens are defcribed as all equally com- 

 bined. We know not by what accident Thunberg calls the 



Jletuers umbellate, which Willdenow copies, in direft con- 

 tradiftion to the Linnxan defcription fubjoined. 



2. 'L.fepiaria. Capillary Lebeckia. Willd. n. 2. (Spar- 

 tium fepiarium ; Linn. Sp. PI. 995. Lathyroides, vel la- 

 thyris congener, linarias foliis, aithiopicum ; Pluk. Mant. 

 114. Amalth. t. 424. f. I. Yellow Cape Broom, with 

 fennel leaves ; Petiv. Gazoph. t. 83. f. 3.) — Leaves fimple, 

 capillary, fmooth. Flowers racemofe.— Native of the Cape, 

 like all the reft of the fpecies. This has more copious, 

 longer, and much (lenderer leaves than the foregoing, with 

 larger^^ow^rj, whofe tenthjlamen is feparated, in its upper 

 part at leaft, from the reft. 



3. L. pungens. Spinous Downy Lebeckia. Thunb. 

 Prodr. 122. Willd. n. 3. — "Leaves fimple, obovate. 

 Branches downy, all becoming fpinous at the end. Flowers 

 folitary." 



SeAion 2. Leaves ternate. 



4. L. armata. Tliorny Grey Lebeckia. Thunb. Prodr. 

 122. Willd. n. 4. — " Leaves ternate. Branches hoary, 

 round, becoming thorny. Flower?! racemofe." 



5. L. denfa. Denfe-leaved Lebeckia. Thunb. Prodr. 

 122. Willd. n. 5. — " Leaves ternate, villous ; leaflets con- 

 volute, oblong. Flowers racemofe, diftant." 



6. L. humilis. Dwarf Lebeckia. Thunb. Prodr. 122. 

 Willd. n. 6. — " Leaves ternate. villous ; leaflets linear- 

 oblong. Flowers racemofe, reflexed. Branches incurved." 



7. \^. fericea. Silky Lebeckia. Thunb. Prodr. 122. 

 Willd. n. 7. Ait. n. 2. (S'pa.tium fericeum ; Ait. ed. I. 

 V. 3. 12.) — « Leaves ternate. filky; leaflets linear. Flowers 

 racemofe. Branches angular." — Sent by Mr. MalTon to 

 Kew, in 1774. It flowers in the greenhoufe, in April. 



8. L. cytifoides. Cytilus-kaved Lebeckia. Willd. n. 8. 

 Ait. n. 3 (Spartium cytifoides; Linn. Suppl. 320. Ebe. 

 nus capenlis ; Linn. Mant. 264. Trifolinni africa"um fruti- 

 cans, folio anguftiore, flore rubicante ; Commel. Hort. v. 2. 

 213. t. 107.) — Leav- s ternate, filky; knftets linear-lanceo- 

 late. Flowers racemofe. Branches round. — Communicated 

 by Thunberg to Linnxus. Maffon fent it from the Cape to 



Kew 



