126 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



than white, pretty, free flowering, and distinct 

 in effect ; this hardly differs from su/phureus, 

 a variety pale yellow in colour. Variation in 

 habit is shown by pendulus, a dwarf shrub 

 with large flowers and pendant shoots, some- 

 times well used to drape boulders or ledges in 

 the rock-garden ; and cantabricus, a similarly 

 prostrate form with fine flowers and silky leaves 

 and stems, found as a wild plant in the moun- 

 tains of Spain. At one time a double-flowered 

 form of the Common Broom was in cultiva- 

 tion, but if still in existence it has become very 

 rare in gardens, though the usual sport with 

 variegated leaves and stems is not wanting. 

 The Broom is also known as Genista scoparius 

 in England, and Sarothamnus or Spartium upon 

 the continent. 



Stemless-leaved Cytisus (C.sessilifolius). 

 —A pretty shrub from southern Europe, with 

 small leaves of glossy green and almost stem- 

 less, and short erect spikes of yellow flowers in 

 May. It is of upright habit, neat and distinct, 

 reaching a height of about 6 feet. Though 

 rarely seen in England it is well grown in the 

 Dublin Botanical Garden. Syn. Lembotropis 

 sessilifolius. 



Evergreen Cytisus (C. stenopetalus) . — A 

 greenhouse plant from Madeira, akin' to race- 

 mosus and possibly one of its parents, but hardly 

 so good for all purposes. Its leaves are similar 

 in shape only larger and of a more glaucous 

 green, and the flowers, if larger and bright in 

 colour, are looser and less shapely in the spike. 

 It reaches a height of 6 feet or more, thriving 

 under the same treatment as other greenhouse 

 kinds, and when full of flower during May and 

 June is none the less a beautiful object. Syn. 

 C. splendens. 



Many-coloured Cytisus (67. versicolor). 

 —A peculiar plant coming as a cross from pur- 

 pureus and Airsutus, and like the Purple Cytisus 

 in growth and outline. Its leaves and shoots 

 are, however, thickly pubescent and its flowers, 

 appearing in May, pass from creamy-white to 

 rose and lilac, the several stages showing in the 

 same cluster. Though not a new plant this 

 hybrid is uncommon and distinct. 



The many forms of Laburnum, including 

 the peculiar graft-hybrid once known as Cytisus 

 Adami, are now classed by themselves in a 

 separate group. B. 



THE LESSER PERIWINKLE 



(Vinca minor), 

 A friend who has been spending a short 

 holiday at Cannes and elsewhere along 

 the Riviera in search of sunshine found 

 rain instead, but adds, " I am charmed 

 with some of the gardens which lie back 

 from the road, in the gorges, and in 

 sheltered little c cups' in the hills. The 

 Palms are splendid here now, of many 

 rare and noble kinds, but they are not 

 for us in England, and I see more and 

 more that the best hardy things are to 

 be our salvation or mainstay in British 

 gardens. The prettiest thing I have seen 

 here are big sheets of the small Peri- 

 winkle on dry banks, a level, solid sheet 

 of flowers. The growth is cut down 

 every year. The colour is good, and I 

 had no idea so much beauty could be 

 produced by a plant we so often neglect 

 or forget altogether." Unkempt and 

 uncared for in moist or shady places, 

 this plant, plentiful with us, is but seldom 

 seen in a fine state ; still here we find it 

 notable even in a land of Palms, Bam- 

 boos and Reeds, of Tea Roses, Acacia, 

 Violets, and hundreds of other bright 

 and fragrant flowers. The secret of its 

 beauty at Cannes may be that its flower- 

 ing stems are mown off at once after 

 flowering ; in any case an open sunny 

 position seems to be essential. Perhaps 

 such a pretty little evergreen would be 

 more highly valued if it were rare and 

 costly. How often is this the case in even 

 the best of gardens. The eternal struggle 

 after rarity, or what often proves to be 

 meretricious novelty, instead of study- 

 ing the right use and situation for well- 

 known and beautiful things in masses. 



