GENISTA BRACTEOLATA. RACEMOSE GENISTA. 
Class XVI. MONADELPHIA.— Order II. DECANDRIA. 
Natural Order, LEGUMINOSAL 
I, Calyx. 2, Standard. 3, Wing. 4, a. Petal of the Keel. 5, Stamens and Pistil. 6, The whorl of stamens opened. 
7, a. flower with a double standard. 
Character of the Genus, Genista. Calyx bilabiate, with the upper lip bipartite, and the inferior 
tridentate, or else five-lobed, with the three inferior lobes united nearly to the apex. Yexillum oblong-oval. 
Keel oblong, straight. Stamens monadelphous. Legume flatly-compressed, or more rarely somewhat 
turgid, many-seeded, rarely few-seeded, without glands. 
Description of the Species, Genista Bracteolata. A large shrub, with numerous pendant 
branches, flowering profusely from almost every lateral branch. Branches angular. The whole plant 
covered with short appressed silky tomentum. Leaves trifoliate, on moderately long petioles, the leaflets 
obovafee-lanceolate, slightly mucronate, darker above, more silky below, stipules very small, subulate. Ra- 
cemes moderately crowded, rather short ; the pedicels short, with a linear lanceolate bract at their base, or 
about half way up, and two other very minute ones close to, and alternating with, the lips of the calyx. Calyx 
with the upper lip bipartite, forming two equal teeth, the lower lip about the size of one of the divisions of 
the upper, somewhat depressed, with three very minute teeth. Flower bright yellow. Standard oblongo- 
subcordate, emarginate, with a very short claw. Wings obliquely linear-obovate, with narrow linear twisted 
strap-shaped claws. Keel ovate-oblong, straight, enveloping (at first) only the base of the staminiferous 
tube, but ultimately drooping, and almost entirely excluding it, its petals somewhat smaller and paler, but 
very like the wings. Stamens monadelphous, alternately long and short. Ovary somewhat compressed, 
hairy, containing about nine ovules. 
Dr. Lindley having kindly identified our plant with Genista bracteolata we can have no hesitation in 
assigning to it the name of that species. In the brief descriptions of Decandolle’s Prodromus it is im- 
possible to find characters sufficiently precise for separating species so closely allied as this and Genista 
candicans, and perhaps further enquiry may, after all, prove them to be identical. At least the figure in 
the Botanical Register, with its elongated racemes of scattered flowers, scarcely accords with our much 
more condensed and shorter ones, or even with one of Link’s specific characters, “racemis brevibus 
neither can the leaflets of our plant be considered “ obtusissima.” Such discrepancies in descriptions make 
it difficult for us to feel satisfied, when comparison with authentic specimens would probably leave us in no 
doubt. The species seems inclined to produce double flowers, at least we found some which had a double 
standard, and where the upper lip of the calyx was subdivided into three segments.* 
The plant was raised from seed, by R. Bevan, Esq., near Bury St. Edmunds, under the name of 
Cytisus Chrysobotrys, but he is not aware from whence the seed was obtained. The specimen figured in 
the Botanical Register was raised from seeds gathered by Mr. Webb at Teneriffe. It is probably of easy 
culture; and, flowering so early as the first week of March, is a great acquisition to the greenhouse. 
Gardens, are amongst the most delightful things which human art has prepared for our recreation 
and refreshment. To say nothing of the common-places, that a garden was first constructed by God 
himself, — that in the shades of a glorious garden our first parents were placed by him, — that our Saviour 
delighted to walk in a garden, — that in a garden he suffered his agony, and that in a garden he was buried ; 
there are a thousand reasons why gardens should be highly valued, especially by those who are fond of the 
country. Lovers of nature cannot always stroll abroad to those beauties and delights which lie scattered far and 
wide; the physical impediments of time and space — the severities of winter, the dews, the hasty storms, and the 
strong heats of summer, lie between them and their enjoyment, especially if they be of the delicate sex. But 
into a garden — a spot into which, by the magical power of science, taste and adventurous enterprize, the 
sweetest and most beautiful vegetable productions, not only of our .own country, but of the whole globe, 
are collected, they may step at all hours, and at all seasons ; yes, even through the hours of night, when 
* The Botanist. 
