a 2. U. (E.) NA'NA Forst. The dwarf Furze. Identification. Smith Eng. Fl., S. p. 266.; Engl. Bot., t. 743.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 144.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 148. Synonymes. U. minor Roth Cat., 1. p. 83.; U. europaeus 8 Lin. Spec., 1045. Engravings. Engl. Bot., t. 743.; and our fig. 264. to a scale of 2 in. to a foot, and fig. 265. of the natural size. Spec. Char., &c. Branches and leaves smooth, the latter linear. Calyx glabrous, with spreading narrow teeth. According to Smith, the essential character consists in the more distinct and spreading calyx teeth, and the more minute, rounded, close-pressed, and often hardly discernible, bracteas. A low spiny shrub, a native of Britain, and the western parts of France, on poor gravelly soils. 264 265 Abundant in Surrey, on the Portsmouth Road; found in Dumfriesshire, and on the Pentland Hills, in Scotland; and also in Ireland. This is a very distinct sort, though, from the very different and more luxuriant habit which the plant has when cultivated in gardens on rich soils, we have no doubt of its being only a variety of U. europaea. In its native habitats, it is easily distinguished from that species by its low growth, seldom exceeding 2 ft. in height; by its being much smaller in all its parts; by its decumbent habit; and by its flowering from the end of August till the beginning of December, and seldom at any other season. This sort, H. C. Watson observes, generally grows at a greater elevation by 200 ft., in North Wales, than the common sort. (Outlines, &c., p. 124). The only use of this plant in cultivation is to produce variety in ornamental plantations. A double-flowered variety of it, would be a desirable acquisition. Very neat low hedges and edgings may be formed of it. 3. U. (E.) PROVINCIA LIS Lois. The Provence Furze. Identification, Lois. Not., 105. t. 6. f. 2.; Dec. Fl. Franc. Suppl., No.3799.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 144. ; Don's Mill., p. 148. Engraving. Lois. Not., 105. t. 6. f. 2. Spec. Char., &c. Calyx rather pubescent, with lanceolate distant teeth. Shrub erect; intermediate, in all its parts and in its habit, between U. europæ`a and U. nàna. A native of Provence, Andegavany, and Mauritania; where it grows to the height of from 2 ft. to 4 ft. Whatever doubts there may be as to U. nàna being a distinct species, there can be none as to this sort being only a variety. As an evergreen shrub, flowering freely, it well deserves a place in collections. 4. U. STRICTA Mackay. The upright-growing, or Irish, Furze. Identification. Mackay's List of Irish Plants; Hook. Brit. Fl., p. 317. Synonymes. U. hibérnica Don's Mill.,2. p. 148.; U. fastigiata Hort. Spec. Char., &c. Habit erect, narrow, and compact. Spines few or none; and what there are weak, branched, leafy, and pubescent. A native of Ireland, where it was discovered in the Marquess of Londonderry's Park, in the County of Down, in 1815, or before. It is very upright in its growth, and attains the height, in good soils, of from 6 ft. to 10 ft. in as many years. Its branches are so soft and succulent, that sheep and cattle eat them without injuring their mouths, and are very fond of them. It forms excellent garden hedges, and, in rather moist climates, is a most excellent forage plant, as has been already stated under U. europæ a. It very rarely flowers, and has never produced seeds; but it is easily propagated by cuttings. Sir W. J. Hooker doubts whether it should be referred to U. europæ'a or U. nana, or be considered as a distinct species; he says (Encyc of Geog., RR p. 329.) that he has seen both flowers and seed vessels, which do not differ in any material point from those of U. nàna. We have no doubt in our own mind of its being only a variety of U. europæ'a; but we have preserved it distinct, because it is truly so in its habit, and most important in its uses. Its value as a forage plant, in deep soils, can hardly be overrated; and, perhaps, in this capacity, it may be found a valuable acquisition to Australia, India, and North America. GENUS V. STAURACA'NTHUS Link. THE STAURACANTHUS, or LEAFLESS Furze. Lin. Syst. Monadélphia Decándria. Identification. Link in Schrad. N. Journ., 2. p. 1. and 52.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 148. Synonyme. Ulex sp. Brot. Derivation. From stauros, a cross, and akantha, a spine; in allusion to the spines, each of which has two smaller spines proceeding from its sides, which give it the appearance of a cross. 1. S. APHYLLUS Link. The leafless Stauracanthus. Ulex genistöìdes Brot. Fl. Lus., ii. p. 78.; and U`lex mìtis Hort. This is the only species of the genus known. It is a leafless shrub, with the habit of Ulex, having divaricate branches; and is a native of Spain and Portugal, in sandy pine woods, where it grows to the height of from 2 ft. to 3 ft. It was introduced in 1823, and produces its yellow flowers in May and June. It is readily increased by cuttings planted in sand under a hand-glass, or by seeds. Plants of it were in the garden of the London Horticultural Society in 1835. GENUS VI. SPAʼRTIUM Dec. THE SPARTIUM, or SPANISH BROOM. Lin. Syst. Monadélphia Decandria. Identification. Lin. Sp., 995.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 145.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 148. Synonymes. Spartianthus Link Enum., 2. p. 223.; Genista sp. Lam, and Manch. Derivation. From sparton, cordage; in allusion to the use of the plant in early ages generally, and in Spain, even to the present day, for making ropes. 1. S. JU'NCEUM L. The Rush-like Spartium, or Spanish Broom. Identification. Lin. Sp., 995.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 145.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 148. Synonymes. Genísta júncea Lam. and Du Ham.; G. odorata Manch; Spartiánthus junceus S. j. 2 fldre plèno has double flowers. Description, Geography, &c. A shrub, with upright branches, round, of a deep green colour, smooth, and with but few leaves, which are lanceolate, and soon drop off. The flowers are few, disposed in terminal racemes, large, distant, and of a deep yellow. It is a native of Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the south of France, in rocky situations, and upon dry gravelly soils. In its native country, it grows to the height of from 5 ft. to 8 ft.; but it attains to nearly double that height in British gardens, into which it was introduced in 1548. 266 Properties and Uses. In Italy and the south of France, a very good cloth is manufactured from the fibres of this plant. The shoots are cut over in the course of the month of August; and, after having been made up into little bundles, are dried in the sun. These are afterwards beaten with a mallet, and then steeped in water for three or four hours; after this they are steeped in a ditch, among water and mud, for eight or nine days, and then taken out and washed, which operation has the effect of separating the parenchyma from the fibres. The bundles are then opened, and thinly spread out to dry, after which they are combed in the manner of flax; and the better part is laid aside for being spun, and woven into sheets, table linen, or shirts; the remaining part being used for sacking, or for stuffing mattresses. In various parts of France, Italy, and Spain, where neither hemp nor flax is grown, owing to the poverty of the soil, Spártium júnceum is found an excellent substitute. In Italy, about Mount Cassiano, advantage is taken of a hot spring, by alternately immersing the shoots in it, and drying them in the sun, instead of the more tedious process of immersing them in cold water: when thus treated, the parenchyma is rendered fit for separation, and the fibres for combing, in three or four days. This process is said by Rosier to be also performed with the Cytisus scopàrius; though, according to Desfontaines, this is doubtful. In Languedoc, sheep and goats are fed with the branches of Spártium júnceum during winter, not because it is an excellent fodder, but because there is a general deficiency of forage at that season. Both in Spain and France, the shoots are used for forming baskets, and for tying up vines and other fruit trees. The bees are said to be very fond of the flowers; and the seeds are eaten with great avidity by poultry, partridges, &c. Medicinally, the flowers and leaves, in infusion, act as an emetic, or, in a larger quantity, as an aperient. In Britain, the plant is solely regarded as an ornamental shrub, having the appearance of an evergreen, from its smooth dark-green shoots, and fastigiate form, even in winter, when without leaves. To produce a harmonious effect, some judgment is required in the quantity of plants of this species which ought to be grouped together. Three or four plants of Spártium júnceum, placed among three or four plants of any broad-leaved shrub, from the equal balance of opposite forms and characters, will not form a harmonious whole; while one plant of Spártium, in a group of six or eight broad-leaved plants (and more if the Spartium be not large), will be effective, by the contrast which it exhibits to the others; in the same manner as a single Lombardy poplar sometimes produces a good effect in a mass of roundheaded trees. In planting Spartium júnceum along with Cytisus scoparius and other plants of the same general character and habit, less attention in regard to proportion is requisite, as the assimilation is more natural. In shrubberies, where the Spártium júnceum is planted here and there at random, though the plants form a beautiful objects, considered separately, yet they often destroy the unity of expression of the scenery. Propagation and Culture. Seeds are produced in abundance, and they will come up in any soil that is tolerably dry. In the nursery, they ought to be transplanted every year, as they are apt to form long taproots and very few fibres. Where the plants are wanted as shelter for game, or to be grown as a substitute for flax or hemp, they may be treated in the same manner as the seeds of Ulex europæ'a. (See p. 574.) Commercial Statistics. Price of plants, in the London nurseries, seedlings 5s. per 100; transplanted plants, 12s. per 100; the double-flowered variety, 1s. 6d. each: at Bollwyller, 50 cents. GENUS VII. GENI'STA Lam. THE GENISTA. Lin. Syst. Monadélphia Decándria. Identification. Lam. Dict., 2. p. 616.; Ill., t. 619.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 145.; Don's Mill., 2. p 148. Synonymes. Genista, et Spártium, spec. Lin.; Genêt, Fr.; Ginster, Ger. Description, &c. The hardy species are deciduous or sub-evergreen shrubs, generally with trifoliolate leaves and yellow flowers; there is a great sameness of character among them; and, though many are quite distinct, yet it is highly probable that the greater number now recorded as species are only varieties. They are chiefly natives of Europe; but a few are found in the north of Africa, and they are all hardy or half-hardy. A number of the species were formerly included under the genus Spártium, and some under Cytisus, from which they have been separated by Lamarck, whose arrangement as modified by De Candolle, we have adopted in the following enumeration. 1. G. PARVIFLO'RA Dec. The small-flowered Genista. Identification. Dec. Prod., 2. p. 145.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 148. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf trifoliolate, its petiole very short; its leaflets usually deciduous, very narrow, glabrous. Flowers in lengthened terminal racemes. Legumes compressed, 1-3-seeded, rather pubescent, being covered with minute closely pressed down, slightly spreading. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 145.) A deciduous shrub, a native of the Levant, near the Gulf of Mundania, producing its yellow flowers from May to August. It was introduced in 1817; and, in British gardens, grows to the height of 6 ft. or 7 ft. 2. G. CLAVATA Poir. The club-shaped-calyxed Genista. Identification. Poir. Supp., 2. p. 717.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 145.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 149. Synonyme. Spártium sericeum Vent. Hort. Cels., t. 17., but not of Ait. Engraving. Vent. Hort. Cels., t. 17. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf trifoliolate. Leaflets linear-sublanceolate, silky beneath. Flowers in terminal heads. Legume compressed, so as to be flat, tapered at the base, containing 1-2 seeds. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 145.) A deciduous shrub, from 2 ft. to 4 ft. high, a native of Mogador, in Spain; introduced in 1812. Its flowers, which are produced from May to August, are yellow, and rather larger than those of the preceding species. De Candolle thinks it is perhaps a species of Cytisus. 3. G. CA'NDICANS L. The whitish-surfaced Genista. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf trifoliolate, petiolate; leaflets obo- 4. G. TRIQUETRA Ait. The triangular-stemmed Genista. Identification. Ait. Hort. Kew., 3. p. 14.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 146.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 149. Synonyme. G. triquetra Lam.? Engravings. Curt. Bot. Mag., t. 314. ; and our fig. 268. Spec. Char., &c. Branches 3-sided, decumbent, the younger ones villose. Leaves trifoliolate, simple about the extremities of the branches; leaflets ovate-lanceolate, villose. Flowers in short terminal racemes. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 146.) A trailing shrub, which, in winter, has the appearance of being evergreen from its somewhat winged and triangular green shoots. It is a native of Spain, Italy, and France; it was introduced in 1748, and, in British gardens, produces a vast profusion of flowers 267 from April to July. No shrub is more ornamental on rockwork; and when trained to a stake, and allowed to form a head, or grafted standard high on a laburnum, it forms a singular object, and, when in flower, a most magnificent one. It is also an admirable plant for training against a wall, particularly in dry situations, where it is exposed to the sun. Where it is desired to train a plant in the form of a man, an animal, or of any artificial object, by planting Genísta triquetra in a favourable soil and situation, and placing over it a wire frame of the exact form of the object to be produced in green, the shoots might be trained to the frame; and in summer, when the plant was in flower, the form would appear as if covered with gold; while in winter, from the greenness of the shoots, it would be completely green. 5. G. BRACTEOLA`TA Lk. The bracteolated Genista. Identification. Lk. Enum., 2. p. 224.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 146.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 149. Spec. Char., &c. Branches striated, pubescent. Leaves pubescent, trifoliolate; the leaflets obovate Flowers in short terminal racemes. Calyx hairy. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 146.) A deciduous shrub, growing to the height of from 2 ft. to 4ft., and flowering from March to May. It was introduced in 1823, but from what country is unknown. De Candolle knows so little about it, that he expresses a doubt, in his Prodromus, as to whether he has given it its right place in the series of species. 6. G. UMBELLA'TA Poir. The umbellate-flowered Genista. Identification. Poir. Suppl., 2. p. 715.; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 146.; Don's Mill., 2. p. 149. Spec. Char., &c. Leaf trifoliolate, its petiole short, its leaflets linear-lanceolate, and rather silky. Flowers in terminal heads. Calyx hairy, in a silky manner. Corolla and legume silky. Branches glabrous. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 146.) Found in Barbary, on arid hills, and introduced in 1799. It grows to the height of from 1 ft. to 2 ft., and flowers from April to June. Variety. ; Lam. Dict., G. u. 2 capitàta Dec. has the branches and leaves clothed with silky hairs. It is a native of Mogador, and is synonymous with the Spartium capitàtum Cav. Annal. 1801, p. 63. 7. G. LUSITANICA L. The Portugal Genista. Identification. Lin. Sp., 999., exclusive of the synonymes of Clus. and J. Bauh. 2. p. 662., exclusive of the synonymes; Dec. Prod., 2. p. 146. ; Don's Mill., 2. p. 150. Engraving. Andr. Bot. Rep. t. 419. Spec. Char., &c. Branches spiny, round, becoming striate. Leaves trifoliolate, opposite, upon short petioles; the leaflets linear, folded, somewhat silky. Flowers few, terminal. Calyx very hairy. (Dec. Prod., ii. p. 146.) A native of Portugal, where it grows 4 ft. high. Introduced in 1771, and flowering from March to May. It forms a very spiny shrub, remarkable for having opposite leaves and branches; a character not common among Leguminàceæ. 8. G. (L.) RADIA TA Scop. The rayed-branched Genista. Synonymes. Spártium radiàtum Lin. Sp, 996., Mill. Icon., t. 249. f. 1., Engravings. Mil. Icon., t. 249. f. 1.; Bot. Mag., t. 2260.; and our fig. 269. Shrubs of this kind of interest are most desirable for intro ducing among evergreens, more especially if they are at the same time free flowerers. |