THE BROOMS OF THE CYTISUS GROUP, 



125 



The Purple Cytisus and its varieties 

 (C. purpureas). — A beautiful hardy plant from 

 eastern Europe,generally grafted standard high 

 upon the Laburnum and (in that way) very 

 short-lived; it is far finer on its own roots as a 

 low spreading bush in the border or rockgarden, 

 its longdrooping shoots hung with a profusion 

 of bright purple flowers from May onwards. 

 It is so readily increased from seed or cuttings 

 that there is no need for grafting. This fine 

 plant is grown in several varieties distinct in 

 habit or colour of flower, of which the best are 

 a/bus, with pretty white flowers borne in long 

 curving wreaths, the beautiful effect of which 

 is shown in our engraving; atropurpureus with 

 flowers of deep purple; albocarneus with large 

 flowers borne in threes, rosy white on opening, 

 deepening to rosy lilac, with leaves and stems 

 covered with down; erectus, a fine kind with 

 flowers deep in colour and a rigid uprigh t habit ; 

 incarnatus, with fewer flowers but large and 

 variously shaded with rose and lilac; pendulus, 

 grown as a standard, with slender weeping 

 branches; and superbits, with large clusters of 

 rosy lilac. 



The Beautiful Cytisus (C. rdcemosas). — 

 A common greenhouse plant raised in large 

 quantities for its bright golden flowers in early 

 spring, when young plants are very useful for 

 table and window decoration. Cuttings are 

 easily rooted in early spring and grown to 

 flowering size by the following season, being 

 gently forced into flower as required. Old 

 plants put out in the border of an airy green- 

 house or conservatory where the room can be 

 spared grow rapidly into bushes many feet 

 high. The origin of the plant is uncertain, 

 but it is a supposed cross between two of the 

 Cytisus from Madeira. Many so-called varie- 

 ties of this plant have been raised and named 

 by florists, but few are really distinct; elegans 

 forms a low dense head with larger leaves of 

 grey-green with long narrow leaflets and large 

 flowers; trifoliatus is a little longer in its ra- 

 cemes and has a long season; and everest/anus, a 

 fine form, is darker in colour of flower and more 

 hairy in leaf, with a profuse show of bloom. 



The Ratisbon Cytisus (C. Ratisbonensis). 

 — -A low shrub akin to hirsatus, not exceed- 

 ing 3 feet, and very free in its golden flowers 

 during May. 



The Schipka Cytisus (C. schipkaensis). — 



A newly-introduced plant of low spreading 

 habit, flowering in a long succession from the 

 end of June, after many of the Brooms are over. 

 The flowers, of a yellowish-white, are borne 

 < in clusters at the ends of the shoots, after the 

 I manner of capitatus. It is a pretty and distinct 

 plant, very hardy, and may be grown upon its 

 own roots as a prostrate trailer for the rock- 

 garden, or grafted as a low standard with a 

 dense drooping head. Syn. C. Friva/dskyanus. 



The Common Broom and its varieties (C 

 scoparius). — The large golden flowers of this 

 fine native plant are too well-known to need 

 description. The plant has been valued for its 

 industrial uses during centuries when beauty 

 was of small account; it has served for fodder, 

 for brooms, in the brewing of beer, and the 

 making of pickle, the weaving of coarse cloth 

 and twine, and (in times of scarcity) its seeds, 

 roasted and ground, have been used as a sub- 

 stitute for coffee. It has also played its part in 

 history and art, while for beautifying ugly dry 

 spots easily and without expense there is, per- 

 haps, no plant its equal, and at the present time 

 it is being much sown in North America for 

 its beauty in the landscape. Though a native 

 wild plant, the Broom sometimes suffers in 

 severe winters, especially when upon low, rich 

 ground; in this way it shows itself less hardy 

 than the white and early Brooms (Cs. a/bus 

 and pracox). There are several fine varieties 

 of the Common Broom but none of them quite 

 so vigorous and robust as the wild plant. The 

 finest isAndre's Broom ( C.Andreanus) ,in which 

 the lower petals are richly shaded with crimson 

 or bronze colour. This kind originated with 

 a wild sport found growing in Normandy , and, 

 while rather difficult to raise from cuttings, 

 layers will root and a good percentage come 

 more or less true asseedlings, of which the best 

 only should be selected, many being dingy in 

 colour. When grafted it never lives long, often 

 disappearing suddenly; but on its own roots 

 it is as indifferent to conditions as any of the 

 Brooms, fine mature plants reaching a height 

 of 1 2 feet or more, fully branched, and of great 

 \ beauty when in flower. To enjoy its rich effect 

 a group of Andrews Broom should not be too 

 distant, its contrast of colour being best seen 

 close at hand. The Moonlight Broom is a 

 second colour form (bearing the name a/bus or 

 pallidus) with flowers creamy-yellow rather 



