114 
BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
1.—THE DYER’S GREENWEED, OR WOAD-WAXEN. (Genista tinctoria, Lin.) 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 44 ; 2nd ed., t. 992 ; and onr fig. 3, i Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate, smooth. Branches round, 
in PI. 26. | striated, erect, without thorns. (Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This well-known plant is common in every part of the kingdom. It has a creeping root, 
numerous stems and branches, and golden-yellow flowers, which appear in July and August. Farmers dislike 
the plant, and eradicate it whenever they can; as, when it grows in meadows and the cows eat it, it imparts a 
bitter flavour to the milk. It takes its name of Dyer’s Greenweed from its having been formerly used in dyeing 
yellow, as the Woad was in dyeing blue ; and as the two were employed to produce green, this plant was called 
Greenweed. Woad-waxen is supposed to have meant yellow Woad. 
2.— PETTY WHIN. (Genista anglica, Lin.) 
Synonymes. —Needle Greenweed ; Needle Furze. Specific Character.— Thorns nearly simple. Flowering branches 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 132 ; 2nd ed., t. 994 ; and our fig. 4, unarmed. Leaves ovate-lanceolate. (Smith.) 
in Pl. 26. 
Description, &c. —This little plant is common in evei'y part of England, particularly on moist heaths. The 
stem is very much branched, and it is armed with very slender, and yet sharp spines. The leaves are of a bluish 
green, and very small. The flowers are of a bright yellow and somewhat racemose, and they appear in May 
and June. The pods are oval, and contain ten or twelve seeds. 
THE HAIRY GREENWEED. (G. pilosa, Lin.) 
This plant only grows in Suffolk, Cornwall, and North Wales. The stem is very woody and much branched. 
The flowers are of a deep yellow, and are generally solitary or in pairs ; but they are clustered at the extremities 
of the branches. The plant flowers in May, and often again in autumn. 
GENUS III. 
THE BROOM. (Cytisus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. MONADELPHIA DECANDRIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx two-lipped; the upper lip generally compressed, flat, many-seeded, without glands. Shrubs with yellow 
entire, the lower slightly three-toothed. Vexillum ovate, large. Keel flowers, and ternate leaves. (Dec.) 
very blunt, enclosing the stamens. Stamens monadelphous. Pod 
Description, &c. —Only one species of this genus is a native of Britain ; though some authors have 
supposed that the Scotch Laburnum (Cytisus alpinus) is a native of Scotland. This, however, does not appear 
to be the case, as young plants are only found growing wild in places where plantations are known formerly to 
have existed, and where they would naturally spring up from seeds. The name of Cytisus is supposed to be 
derived from Cytlmus , one of the Cyclades, in consequence of one of the first known of the species having been 
found there. This genus is placed in the same Linnasan class and order as Genista. 
