THE BROOM. 



Sarothamnus scoparius. Nat. Ord., 

 Papilionacece. 



'IKE the preceding flower, the 

 sweet-briar, the subject of our 

 present illustration is one that 

 is not only dear to all lovers 

 of natural beauty, but is also 

 enshrined in the memory of all 

 students of our history and 

 literature. While the sweet- 

 briar suggests to our minds 

 the national emblem, the rose 

 of England, the badge of 

 Yorkist and Lancastrian, and 

 the device of the Tudors at the 

 close of the desolating wars 

 that bore its name, the broom 

 no less recalls to our mind the 

 line of Plantagenet. While 

 we find the praises of the briar 

 sung by our greatest poets, we find, too, that the golden 

 broom shares almost equally their regard. 



As a device, the broom was from a very early period 

 the chosen plant of Bretagne. Fulke of Anjou bore it as 

 his personal cognisance; and Henry II. of England, his 

 grandson^ as a claimant of that province, also adopted it, 



