BRITISH WILD FLOWERS. 
115 
1. —THE COMMON BROOM (Cytisus scoparil^, rvm/c.) 
Synonymes. —Spartium scoparium, Lin.; Genista scoparia, Lam.; 
G. hirsuta, Mcench. 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot. t. 1339 ; 2nd ed., t. 996 ; and our fig. 
5, in PI. 26. 
Specific Character. —Leaves ternate, or solitary. Branches 
angular, without thorns. Legume fringed. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c.—The Broom is common in every part of Great Britain, and in fact it is found in dry, 
gravelly situations throughout Europe. It will, however, only grow in loose deep soils, as the roots are straight, 
and penetrate the ground perpendicularly. The leaves are small, and are scarcely seen amongst the numerous 
dark green branches. The Broom possesses a degree of historical interest, from Geoffrey of Anjou, father of 
Henry II., being in the practice of always wearing a sprig of it in his cap ; and hence arose the name of 
Plantagenet, (from genet, the French name of the plant,) which was borne by the English sovereigns, from 
Henry II. to Richard III. This historical fact has been alluded to in the following pretty lines addressed to 
the Wild Broom :— 
“ Afar from the cultured haunts of men, 
Where Nature has chanced thy seeds to fling, 
In the turf-cover’d wild, or the woodland glen, 
I’ve seen thee unfold, ’mid the blossoms of spring. 
Time was, when thy golden chain of flowers 
Was link’d, the warrior’s brow to bind ; 
When rear’d in the shelter of royal bowers, 
Thy wreath with a kingly coronal twined. 
The chieftain, who bore thee high on his crest, 
And bequeath-’d to his race thy simple name, 
Long ages pass’d hath sunk to his rest, 
And only lives in the voice of fame. 
And one by one, to the silent tomb, 
His line of princes hath pass’d away ; 
But thou art here with thy golden bloom, 
In all the pride of thy beauty gay .”—Wild Garland. 
The Broom is very common in Scotland, and it is found even on the summit of the Grampian Mountains, 
and as high as 1900 feet above the level of the sea. It is celebrated in many Scotch songs, particularly that 
beginning :— 
“ Oh ! the Broom, the bonnie, bonuie Broom, 
The Broom of Cowden-knowes, 
For sure sae saft, sae sweet a bloom 
Elsewhere there never grows.” 
And Burns notices it in one of the sweetest of his songs. It is also common among the mountains of 
Cumberland and Westmoreland ; and Wordsworth makes it exclaim— 
“ On me such beauty summer pours, 
That I am covered o’er with flowers ; 
And when the frost is in the sky, 
My branches are so fresh and gay, 
That you might look at me and say, 
This plant can never die. 
The butterfly, all green and gold, 
To me hath often flown, 
Here in my blossoms to behold 
Wings lovely as his own.” 
In another place Wordsworth says 
“ ’Twas that delightful season when the Broom 
Full flowered, and visible on every steep, 
Along the copses runs in veins of gold.” 
The Broom is now the badge of the Highland Clan Forbes. When it grows to a large size, its wood is use< 
in veneering. The flowers are large, and of a bright yellow, and they appear in May and June. The flower 
buds, when young, are sometimes pickled, and used as*a substitute for capers. 
