[8 



LEGUMIN6SiE 



with ascending branches with strong curved spines ; brads very 

 minute, adpressed ; flowers small, orange ; calyx downy, with 

 diverging teeth ; wing-petals rather longer than the keel. — Heaths ; 

 common. — Fl. August — November. Perennial 



3. U. minor (Lesser Dwarf Furze). — A smaller, more prostrate 



shrub, with short, straight, 

 weak spines ; brads very 

 minute, adpressed; 



flowers small, pale yellow ; 

 calyx downy, with diverg- 

 ing teeth ; wing-petals 

 shorter than the keel. — 

 Heaths, chiefly in the 

 south ; less common than 

 U. Gdllii.—Fl. July- 

 September. Perennial. 



3. SarothAmnus 

 (Broom). — Shrubs, rarely 

 spinous ; leaves simple or 

 ternate, with minute sti- 

 pules ; calyx 2-lipped, the 

 upper lip minutely 2- 

 toothed, the lower 3- 

 toothed ; standard petal 

 broadly ovate ; stamens 

 monadelphous; style 

 curved or coiled ; pod 

 flat, many-seeded. (Name 

 from the Greek sarbo, I 

 sweep, tlidmnos, a shrub.) 

 1. S. scopdrius (Com- 

 mon Broom). — The only 

 British species, well dis- 

 tinguished by its numer- 

 ous, slender, erect, green, 

 angular branches, small, 

 scattered, simple or ternate leaves, large yellow flowers, with 

 spirally-coiled styles, and black pods, which are hairy at the 

 margin. — Sandy places ; common. — Fl. May, June. Perennial. 

 * The Laburnum is a member of an allied genus. 



4. Ononis (Rest-harrow). — Small shrubs, rarely herbaceous, 

 hairy and generally viscid ; leaves pinnate ; leaflets 3, toothed ; 

 stipules adnate to the petiole ; flowers pink ; calyx 5-cleft ; standard 



SAROThXmNUS SCOPDRIUS {Common Broom). 



