110 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
teen princes of the family of Plantagenet have sate 
on the throne of England for upwards of three hun- 
dred years, and yet very few of our countrymen 
have known either the reason of that appellation or 
the etymology of it : but history tells us that Geof- 
fry, Count of Anjou, acquired the surname of Plan- 
tagenet from the incident of his wearing a sprig of 
Broom on his helmet on a day of battle. This 
Geoflry was second husband to Matilda, or Maud, 
Empress of Germany, and daughter of Henry I. of 
England, and from this Plantagenet family were 
descended all our Edwards and Henries." 
Skinner assigns a different origin to this illustri- 
ous name. He tells us that " the house of Anjou 
derived the name of Plantagenet from a prince 
thereof, who, having killed his brother to enjoy his 
principality, afterwards repented, and made a voy- 
age to the Holy Land to expiate his crime, 
scourging himself every night with a rod made of 
the plant Genet, Genista, Broom." And we are 
told elsewhere that he was nicknamed Plantagenet 
from the use which he had made of the Broom. 
There are three vaiieties of Broom, with yellow, 
white, and purple flowers. The first is the most 
common. 
