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202 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM.
• i’ growth, and attains the
height, m good soils of from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in as many years. Its branches
are so soit and succulent th a t sheep and cattle e at them without iniuring their
mouths, and are very fond o f them. I t forms excellent garden hedge!, and,
in ra her raoust climates, is a most excellent forage plant, as has beei? already
stated under U europæ 'a. I t only rarely flowers, and has very seldom p ro duced
seeds ; b u t it is easily propagated by cuttings.
B ro t., U. mitis Hort., Stauracán-
tluis aphvllus Lmk, is a leafless shrub, with th e habit o f í / 'l e x ; a native o f
I qrtugal m sandy pine woods ; and diflfering from il'le x nana chiefly in the
spines branching into two small ones a t th e sides. I t was introduced in 1823 ■
and p o w s to th e height o f 1 ft. to 2 ft. I t is ra th e r te n d e r in th e climate o f
London, but sometimes stands th e winter among rockwork.
G e n u s V .
N P A 'R T IU M D e c . T h e S p a r t i u m , or S p a n i s h S so o m . Lin. S y s t.
Monadélphia Decándria.
Identification. L in . Sp., 99.5. ; D e c. P ro d ., 2. p . 145. ; D o n ’s Mill 2 n 148
Gen Char., 4 c . Ca*/.» membranous, spathaceous, cleft above, 5-toothed at
th e apex, somewhat labiate. Corolla w'ith a roundish complicated vexillum
and an acuminated keel. Petals a little agglutinated, b u t partable Sta-
-C-egam» compressed, many-seeded, glandless. (B o ris
Leaves simple, alternate, exstipulate, caducous ; lanceolate. Flowers in
a n T Z r tiig f t™ ^ * ’ ye'low. — A shrub, a native o f Spain
® I. 5. ju 'n c e um L . T h e Rush-*7re Spartium, or Spanish Broom.
Identification. L ia . Sp., 995.; D e c. P ro d ,, 2. p. 145. ; D o n ’s Mill 2 n 148
Spec. Char 4c. Branches upright, round, o f a deep green colour, smooth
and with b u t few leaves, which are lanceolate, and soon drop off. An n n ’
n g h t shrub, evergreen from th e colour o f its namerous shoots. Snain'
Portugal, and th e South o f France, m gravelly soils. Height 5 ft to 8 ft !
m British gardens 8 f t. to 12 ft. In- '■ • u o u . ,
troduced in 1548, Flowers dark yellow,
large; Ju ly to September. Pods
brown ; ripe in October. Naked
young wood smooth and dark green.
Varieties.
* S. j. 2 odoratissimum (S . odora-
tissimum D . Bon Brit. Fl.
Gard. 2. st. 3 9 0 .; S. a cu tifò lium
Lindl. Bot. Beg. ; and our
fig . 304.) has th e flowers sweet-
scented, and th e leaves more
acute than those o f th e species.
Raised from Turkish seeds.
81 S. j. 3 flòre pièno has double flowers.
XXV. l e g u m i n a ' c e i e : g e n i ' s t a .
In Ita ly and th e South o f F ran c e a very good cloth
is manufactured from th e fibres of this plant. B o th m
Spain and Fran c e , th e shoots are used for lormmg
baskets, and for tying up vines and o th e r fruit trees.
The bees are said to be very fond o f the flowers; and
the seeds are eaten with great avidity by [iqidtry, p a rtridges,
&c. Medicinally, the flowers and leaves, in
infusion, act as an emetic, or, in a larger qu-antity, as an
aperient. In Britain, th e plant is solely regarded as an
ornamental shrub. Seeds are produced in abundance,
and they will come up in any soil th a t is tolerably dry.
In the nursery, they ought to be transplanted every p a r ,
as they are apt to form long tap ro o ts and very few fibres.
G e n u s V I .
r '
203
3 0 5 . S p à r tium jú n c e um .
3 0 1 . S p à r tium jú n c e u r r o d o ratissim um .
( ÍE N T S T A Lam. T h e G e n i s t a . Lin. Syst. Monadélphia Decandria.
Gen. Char. Calyx bilabiate, upper lip bipartite, lower one tridenta te , or 5-
lobed, the th re e iow e r lobes nearly joined to the apex. Vexillum qblong-oval.
Carina, oblong, straight, n o t always containing th e stamens and pistiri. bta-
mens monadelphous. Legume compressed, many-seeded, ^ ,
Leaves simple or compound, a lternate, rarely opposite, stipulate, d e c ita -
ous or sub-evergreen ; lanceolate, linear, or trifoliolate. Floivers terminal o r
axillary, yellow.
The hardy species are deciduous or sub-evergreen shrubs, generally
trifoliolate leaves and yellow flowers ; th e re is a great sameness
among them, and, though many are quite distinct, y e t it is highly piobable th a t
th e greater number now recorded as species are only varieties. They
chieflv natives o f E u ro p e ; b u t a few are found in th e N o rth o f Afiica. As
they Irow rapidly, and flower freely, especially on soils n o t wet a t bottom,
rile v a re desirable plants for newly formed shrubberies, b u t in geneial they
I r e nol o f long duration. A number o f th e species were formerly in c lta ed
under th e genus Npártium and some u n d e r Cyftisus, they ^
been separated by Lamarck, whose arrangement, as modified by DeCandolle,
we have adopted in the following enumeration.
§ I. Unarmed. Leaves all, or fo r the most part, trifoliolate.
Si \ . G. p a r v i f l o ' r a B ee. T h e small-
flowered Genista.
Identification. D e c. P ro d ., 2. p. 146.; D o n ’s Mill.,
Syrw nym e. S p irtium parviflbrum Vent. H o rt. Cels.
E n g ra vin g s. Ven t. Ho rt, Cels., t. 87.; and o u r fig. 306.
Spec. Char.,4c. Leaf trifoliolate, the petiole
very s h o r t; and the leaflets usually deciduous,
very narrow, glabrous. Flowers
in lengthened terminal racemes. L e gumes
compressed, 1—3-seeded, ra th e r
pubescent, being covered with minute
closely pressed down, slightly spreading.
(B e e . Prod.) A deciduous shrub.
Levant, ne ar th e G u lf o f Mundania.
306i Gcnisla p a rv illò ra .