49 



CYTISUS TRIFLORUS. 



(Three-flowered Cytisus.) 



LINNEAN SYSTEM. 



MONADELPHIA DECANDRIA 



GENERIC CHARACTER. 



Cytisus. (Decand.) Calyx bilabiatus, labio superiore ssepius integro inferiore subtridentato. 

 Vexillum ovatum amplum. Carina obtusissima genitalia includens. Stamina monadelpha. 

 Legumen plano-compressum polyspermum eglandulosum. Frutices habitu genistarum trifbli- 

 olatarum. Floribus fere omnium flavis. Foliis omnium 2> foliolatis. (Decand. Prod. vol. ii. p. 153.) 



Calyx two lipped, upper lip oftentimes entire, lower lip somewhat three-toothed. Standard 

 ovate, large. Keel very obtuse, concealing the sexual organs. Stamens joined in one set. Legume 

 flatly compressed, many-seeded, glandless. Shrubs having the habit of the three-leaved broom. 

 Flowers of almost all yellow. Leaves always in threes. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 



C. triflorus; (L'Her.) Hirsutus ; ramis teretibus, foliis petiolatis : foliolis obovato-ellipticis : 

 floribus axillaribus pedicellatis ternis apice ramorum subracemosis. 



Hirsute, branches round; leaves petiolate, leaflets obovate elliptical; flowers axillary 

 pedicellate, in threes, somewhat racemose at the apex of the branches. 



Cytisus triflorus. — L'Her. stirp. 184. — Desf. Fl. atl. — non Lam. 



villosus. — Pourr. 



Descr. — Stem about three feet high, branched, branches hairy. Leaves petiolate, arranged 

 in threes. Leaflets obovate, pointed, covered with soft silky hairs. Flowers pedunculate, 

 yellow, arranged in threes, growing from the axils of the leaves, peduncles about a quarter of 

 an inch long, covered with soft hairs. Standard ovate, large, yellow. Wings nearly as long as 

 the keel, obtuse. Keel, very obtuse. Stamens united into one set. Seed-vessel compressed, 

 indented in the centre, and covered with long soft hairs. Seeds about eight in each seed-vessel. 



This pretty free-flowering Cytisus is in the collection of the Birmingham Horti- 

 cultural Society, and from a plant in the greenhouse of that establishment our 

 drawing was made. 



It is a half-hardy shrub, and a native of Spain ; from which country it was 

 introduced about the year 1640. It requires the shelter of a frame during the 

 winter, or to be planted against a south wall, where some temporary protection 

 may be had during severe weather. It flowers freely from April to May. It 



VOL. III. NO. XXVIII. JUNE, 1839. H 



NATURAL ORDER. ' 



No. 102. 



LEGUMINOSiE, TRIBE LOTEyE. 



