GENISTA RADIATA. 
RAYED GENISTA. 
Order. 
DECANDRIA. 
Natural Order. 
LEGUMINOSiE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Introduced 
Italy. 
1| feet. 
June, July. 
Perennial. 
in 1758. 
No. 594. 
The Latin genu, the knee ; and also the Celtic 
gen, a small bush, have been referred to as the 
parents of the word Genista ; its legitimate lineage 
is, however, enveloped in much obscurity. The 
Latin term radiata, rayed, alludes to its trifoliate 
leaves, which project horizontally and assume a 
ray- like appearance. 
Although this shrub is an old inhabitant of our 
gardens, it is by no means common, but deserves 
to have a place in every respectable collection of 
such plants. Its neat growth and dwarf size adapt 
it to the front of the shrubbery ; but it cannot be 
recommended as harmonizing with the gaieties of a 
flower border, unless it be where other shrubs are 
intermixed to form a back ground to the intended 
picture. 
The Genista radiata occupies the same situation 
on the Italian mountains as our common broom 
(Cytisus scoparius) does with us. As the young 
slender shoots sometimes suffer in exposed situ- 
ations from severe frosts, a sheltered one should be 
chosen. It may be increased by layers, or seeds. 
Soil is unimportant. 
Don’s Syst. Bot. 2, 149. 
Class. 
MONODELPHIA. 
