148 



THE YOUNG 



NATURALIST. 



country. Both plants are sometimes 

 subject to the attacks of a curious 

 root-parasite, the broom-rape [Orob- 

 anche major) j which often attains a 

 height of two feet, with a succulent 

 stem as thick as a man's thumb, of a 

 brown colour, devoid of leaves, but 

 covered with scales and bearing 

 numerous large, lurid, unattractive 

 flowers. Occasionally another stem- 

 parasite of twining habit, one of the 

 dodders (cuscuta) may be found on 

 the gorse, but except in the south it is 

 rare. Old stems of broom often attain 

 a diameter of several inches, the wood 

 being beautifully veined, is sometimes 

 used for turning small articles as door 

 and drawer knobs, and egg-cups of 

 broom wood were formerly an indis- 

 pensable article in the rural cottages 

 of Scotland. The long, tough pliant 

 branches make admirable besoms. 

 Hence the name of broom is synony- 

 mous with besom in the North. It is 

 also used for thatching houses, stacks, 

 &c., and is fairly durable. Its tenacity 

 is alluded to by Scott : — 



" The broom's tough root his ladder made, 

 The hazel's saplings lent their aid; 

 And thus an airy point he won." 



It is rather singular that of all our 

 native leguminous plants, the broom 

 is the only one admitted into the 

 Pharmacopeia. Old Culpeper waxes 

 eloquent about its properties, and in 

 the present day every street quack 

 vaunts its virtues in stentorian tones, 



brandishing as his badge a bundle of 

 broom. A decoction of the young 

 twig tops is proverbial as a diuretic 

 in dropsical cases. Its bitterness is 

 also well known : Spenser says — 



" Sweet is the broom-floure, but yet soure 

 enough." 



It has also intoxicating properties, and 

 was formerly used to flavour home- 

 brewed ale, thus Allan Ramsay in his 

 address to a landlady sings : — 



" Some said it was the pith o' broom 

 That she stowed in her masking loom, 

 Which in our heads raised sic a stoon, 



Or some lured seed 

 Which oft the chappin stoup did toom, 



But filled our head." 



The same results are seen on sheep, 

 who are greedily fond of it, preferring 

 at first the pods and seeds. It would 

 seem as if they ate it medicinally, for 

 the sickly, intoxicating effects pass 

 away without any apparent injury. 

 Some shepherds think that these effects 

 are caused, or, at least, intensified, by 

 its being eaten before the hoar-frost 

 has gone off the plants in the morning. 

 The virulently poisonous properties of 

 the closely-allied Laburnum are well 

 known. Children have often been 

 seriously ill and even died from eating 

 the seeds. And yet hares and rabbits 

 are so ravenously fond of it that it is 

 often planted as a protection to young 

 trees, for these marauders will not 

 touch anything else whilst a leaf or 

 shoot of Laburnum remains. 



For as favourite a flower as the 



