ULE 
ULE 
brighter yellow of its flowers than is 
observable in any other member of the 
genus; clasystyla resembles the last, but 
the eye of the botanist detects a sufficient 
difference in its hairy style ; laciniata is 
one of the most distinct, on account of 
the deep yet fine serratures of its foliage; 
microphylla is an inferior kind, with small 
sub-cordate leaves, and a meagre appear¬ 
ance ; platyphylla , on the contrary, is 
one of the most noble,—its leaves are 
large, cordate, finely serrated, and a little 
downy beneath; a sub-variety of it, 
called plat, aurea , is also a noble tree; 
both of them attain in favorable circum¬ 
stances a height of sixty feet; the only 
other variety is rubra , known by its hairy 
petioles and the unequal bases of its 
foliage. 
O 
L LEX, Furze (Loot.) Nat. Ord. 
Leguminosee. Of this well-known genus 
there are four species cultivated in our 
gardens, or growing wild on dry heaths 
or sandy commons in various parts of 
Great Britain. The common furze, U. 
Furopcea , is found in abundance wherever 
the soil is sufficiently light and dry; the 
waste lands throughout the south and 
western counties are usually covered with 
it, but though capable of bearing the sea 
air in ordinary seasons, a severe frost 
kills it to the ground. It is much 
esteemed in the northern parts of Europe 
as a greenhouse plant, and at St. Peters- 
burgh it is yet among their choicest i 
plants ; for, though so common with us,; 
it is almost confined to our own country; 
and those immediately adjoining. In 1 
many parts of Russia, Germany, Den- j 
mark, and Poland, it is unknown, except j 
as a cultivated plant, and Linnaeus la-; 
mented that he could hardly preserve it ; 
alive hi a greenhouse. The celebrated] 
German botanist, Dillenius, is said to i 
have been in a perfect ecstacy when he 
saw it for the first time displaying its 
brilliant blossoms on our commons. 
A variety with double flowers, obtained 
in Devonshire some years ago, is now 
generally grown in gardens to the exclu¬ 
sion of the original kind; and where the ] 
soil is of a gravelly nature, or so dry as 
to permit the full development of the : 
plant, very few things exceed it in beauty; 
as an accompaniment to rockwork : or 
wherever an uncontrolled natural aspect 
is desirable, a group of this furze is one 
of the most effective features that can 
be introduced; it does not succeed in 
j damp soils or under trees, and therefore 
| when the position is not naturally suited, 
assistance must be rendered by throwing 
up a mound of the lightest earth pro¬ 
curable, intermixed with broken bricks 
' or stones to secure the required drainage. 
This variety is increased by cuttings of 
the voung wood, taken off" in autumn, 
and after removing a portion of the 
lower leaves, the cuttings are struck 
under a hand-glass in sandy earth on a 
, warm border. 
The common furze is sometimes em¬ 
ployed as a hedge-plant, and in situations 
| so dry and on steep banks where the 
more usual hedges fail, it will be found 
j highly valuable; it does not answer the 
! desired purpose if treated in the usual 
j way upon level ground, in consequence 
of its liability to become naked at the 
bottom, but in the case of a bank, having 
a base ten or twelve feet wide, the furze 
may be sowed over it, and will form an 
impenetrable fence in a few years. In 
such a position the plants should be 
topped with a hedging hook early in 
each spring, and afterwards allowed to 
flower and ripen their seed, which falling 
on the soil will spring up, and thus keep 
the surface of the bank filled with young 
plants. As a cover for game, the common 
furze is much esteemed, and being of 
quicker growth than heather is often 
sown on poor lands for that purpose. 
But the most profitable use of furze is 
as green food for cattle; it has been 
proved by many agriculturists to be 
highly useful in this way, and is recom¬ 
mended to be grown, where any part of 
the farm is of so poor a nature as to 
yield no returns under other crops. The 
seed is sown on slightly tilled land, and 
allowed to grow three or four years; 
about half the plant is then cut off, and 
bruised between heavy rollers, which 
operation crushes the woody parts and 
thorns; it may then be cut along with 
chaff, or given by itself, alternating with 
