84 THE TREES AND SHRUBS [LECT. 



reaches the dimensions of a shrub. Pliny describes 

 it under the name of securidaca, and the Greeks 

 under that of YleXrjKiv o?. 



MEDICAGO. 



The only shrub belonging to this genus has been 

 shewn to be the Cytism of the ancients p . 



PSORALEA. 



Psoralea lituminosa is a shrubby plant noticed 

 by Sibthorp in Greece. It is probable that the 

 ancient Greeks confounded it with the trefoil 

 (rptyvXXov), one species of which Dioscorides q de- 

 scribes as having the smell of asphalt when old, and 

 as therefore sometimes called aa-fyaXnov. Pliny r 

 speaks of it as a trefoil distinguished by the name 

 of Minyanthes or Asphaltum, the former from the 

 minuteness of the flower, the latter from the na- 

 ture of its scent. 



ANTHYLLIS. 



Two shrubby species, BarlaJovis and Hermann/ice, 

 are noticed by Sibthorp in Greece, but Manetti 

 omits any mention of them in Italy, although the 

 former occurs near Nice. 



Pliny 8 describes a shrub, known as Barba Jovis, 

 Jupiter's Beard, which dislikes water, is employed 

 in ornamental gardens, is often clipped, and has 

 a round bushy head with a silvery leaf. This 



f See " Roman Husbandry," p. 170. > M. M. iii. 123. 



' Lib. xxi. 30. Lib. xvi. 31. 



