THE REST-HARROW— continued. 
Included under the two perennial Linnaean species 0. repens and 0. spinosa which we 
have in England. It may well prove, as in other cases where there are two so-called 
species existing side by side, that they are rather races presenting a case of what is 
now known as Mendelian segregation of characters. In general terms, however, it 
may be said that 0. spinosa does not produce suckers, is erect and usually spinous, has 
two rows of hairs along its branches, and produces a pod longer than its calyx ; while 
0. repens does produce suckers, is more usually prostrate in its mode of growth, is 
seldom spinous, is covered all over with sticky hairs, has a more fetid, goat-like 
smell, somewhat larger flowers, and a pod shorter than its calyx. Intermediate forms 
(the 0. arvensis Linne of Wilkomm and Lange) occur. 
The woodiness of the erect 0. spinosa, and the fleshy texture, abundant hairs, 
and strong smell of 0. repens, are alike suggestive of the xerophytic character of the 
Mediterranean flora ; and all the forms occur chiefly in dry places, whether sandy or 
calcareous. The leaves are, however, larger than in the more typically xerophytic 
genera Genista, Ulex, and Sarothamnus with which we have been dealing. They have 
large, leafy, toothed stipules united to their petioles, and the veins of the leaflets run 
out at the apex into teeth. 
The solitary axillary flowers are shortly stalked, and one of the most marked 
characters of the genus is the deep division of the five lobes of the calyx. The 
pollination-mechanism is what is known as the “ piston ” system. There is no honey 
and the keel petals are united by both edges into a tube, closed except at its pointed 
apex, where there is a small hole. The united filaments are broadly thickened below 
the anthers so as to form a piston : the pollen is discharged in the bud stage into the 
apex of the keel and the stigma lies amongst it, but is not receptive until rubbed. 
When the keel is depressed by the weight of the insect-visitor the piston forces out 
a portion of the pollen in a little stream through the hole at its apex. When the 
weight is removed the keel resumes its former position, so that repeated visits of 
insects are generally necessary for the discharge of all the pollen. In this genus, at 
a later stage, the keel splits along its upper surface, so that stamens and style 
emerge ; but the keel does not drop into the vertical position, as in the Broom. 
The sweet roots are eaten by boys in the North, under the name of Wild 
Liquorice, and in France and the Channel Islands as Reclisse or Reglisse, a corruption of 
the Latin Glytyrrhiza ; but the green part of the plant is believed in the south of 
England to impart its goaty smell to the milk, butter, and cheese obtained from cows 
feeding upon it, and they are then said in consequence to be “cammocky.” 
