122 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



this kind are grown : incarnatus, bearing flowers 

 tinged, especially when in bud and newly 

 opened,with pink or reddish-purple ; multiflo- 

 rus,a free-flowered garden variety with flowers 

 of creamy white ; and grandiflor us, with blos- 

 soms that are larger and of a fine pure white. 

 To this plant belongs a confusing list of syno- 

 nyms, classing it with Genista, Spartium, and 

 Sarothamnus, but it is well known by its Eng- 

 lish name. 



Alschenger's Cytisus (C. Alschengeri). — 

 The plant bearing this name is really related 

 to the Alpine Laburnum, now separated from 

 the true Cytisus. It is profuse in flowers, of a 

 pale yellow, borne in very long racemes, reach- 

 ing as much as 1 8 inches in length. Croatia. 



Dwarf Alpine Cytisus (C. Ardoinii).— 

 Alow trailing shrub only growing 4 to 6 inches 

 high, and a little gem for the rock-garden. It 

 is covered during April and May with a pro- 

 fusion of deep golden flowers, thriving in dry 

 and sunny spots, its silky trifoliate leaves carried 

 upon fine rod-like stems. It is a scarce plant 

 even in its home amid the Maritime Alps, 

 having been found only upon three mountains 

 at from 3,500 to 4,000 feet, and exposed to the 

 nibbling of goats, which destroy flower and 

 seed alike. It may be increased from cuttings 

 in the autumn. 



Silver- leaved Cytisus (C. argenteus). — 

 A silvery-leaved plant found in the Maritime 

 Alps, its leaves and stems densely clothed in 

 thick white down, and growing inthe sunniest 

 and most arid spots. 



Austrian Cytisus (C. austriacus). — A 

 hardy deciduous kind from the east of Europe, 

 growing as a compact leafy bush of 2 to 4 feet, 

 bearing terminal clusters of yellow flowers dur- 

 ing early summer and again in autumn. Like 

 so many of the Cytisus, its leaves and stems are 

 covered with whitish down. It is grown in two 

 or three distinct forms : leucanthus, showing 

 paler flowers than the type ; and axillaris, a 

 new kind bearing its flowers in the axils of the 

 leaves instead of at the end of the shoots. Syn. 

 Roche li. 



Bean's Cytisus (C. Beanii). — A cross be- 

 tween Ardoinii and bijlorus, which originated 

 in the Royal Gardens, Kew. It is a dwarf, 

 prostrate shrub with the habit of A 'r do in ii, use- 

 ful in masses for the rock-garden, its golden 

 yellow flowers coming early in May. 



Twin-flowered Cytisus (C. biflorus). — 

 The earliest of the Brooms, opening itsflowers 

 in mid-April, even before albus and pracox. It 

 is a deciduous shrub of neat habit, growing very 

 freely and about 4 feet high at most, though it 

 often makes shoots of 2 feet in a season. The 

 bright yellow flowers appear in the axils of the 

 leaves throughout the long shoots, coming 

 (spite of its botanic name) as often in threes 

 and fours as in pairs. It is quite hardy, and a 

 fine plant for the open shrubbery. A long 

 list of synonyms apply to this plant, including 

 elongatus, ruthenicus, and supinus; serotinus and 

 uralensis are mere forms of biflorus, and, though 

 the last isdistinctin itslargerleavesand flowers, 

 it is linked to it by confused intermediate va- 

 rieties. 



Hoary Cytisus (C.candicans) . — A robust 

 downy shrub found throughout the south-east 

 of Europe, from Italy to the Levant, bearing 

 its yellow flowers somewhat sparsely at the 

 ends of the shoots during summer. 



Canary Islands Cytisus (C. canariensis) . 

 — A tender shrub flowering under glass and 

 useful as a succession to the spring-blooming 

 greenhouse kinds. It is of dwarfer habit and 

 not quite so free in growth as C. racemosus, its 

 yellow flowers appearing in long one-sided 

 spikes throughout the summer, upon the slen- 

 der much-branched shoots. 



Cluster-flowered Cytisus [C.capitatus). 

 — A low semi-evergreen shrub common in the 

 outskirts and clearingsof sunny woods through- 

 out central and southern Europe, bearing clus- 

 ters of pale yellow flowersat times shaded with 

 bronze, at the tips of the long erect shoots. 

 Though less showy than some kinds its habit 

 is neat and compact, and it flowers from the 

 middle of July into autumn when few sorts are 

 in beauty ; the leaves are numerous, trifoliate, 

 and softly hairy in every part. It is sometimes 

 seen grafted upon tall standards of Laburnum, 

 but is finer in its low form, and easily raised 

 from seed. 



Trailing Cytisus (C. decumbens). — A 

 dwarf, prostrate shrub from eastern Europe, 

 with large pale yellow flowers in long erect 

 spikes coming from June till August. It is a 

 scarce plant,but where obtainable is very pretty 

 in the rock-garden. 



Weeping Cytisus (C. Jilipes). — A very 

 beautiful greenhouse plant of singularly grace- 



