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SPARTIUM*.

Linnean Class and order. DIADELPHIAT, DECA'NDRIA. Natural Order. LEGUMINO'SE, Juss. Gen. Pl. p. 345.-Sm, Gr. of Bot. p. 174.-Lindl. Syn. p. 75; Introd. to Nat. Syst. p. 87.-Rich. by Macgilliv. p. 532.-Sm. Engl. Fl. v. iii. p. 259. Loud. Hort. Brit. p. 509.-PAPILIONA CEE, of Linnæus.

GEN. CHAR. Calyx (fig. 1.) inferior, cup-shaped, of 1 sepal, 2-lipped; lips coloured, blunt; upper lip with 2, lower lip with 3, very slight teeth. Corolla, of 5 petals; standard (vexillum) broadly egg-shaped, entirely reflexed, very large; wings (alae) egg-shaped, oblong, shorter than the standard, connected below with the filaments; keel (carina) of 2 petals, spear-shaped, oblong, blunt, longer than the wings, attached to the filaments. and connected together at the lower edges by entangled hairs. Filaments (fig. 2) 10, all united into one tube, which is sometimes slit along the upper side, unequal, thread-shaped, the lowermost gradually longest. Anthers oblong, versatile (vane-like). Germen (fig. 3.) oblong, compressed, hairy. Style (fig. 3.) awl-shaped, curved, or contorted, upwards. Stigma oblong, hairy, running along the upper edge of the blunt style. Legume (fig. 4.) much compressed, oblong, blunt, of 1 cell, and 2 elastic valves, subtended by the permanent calyx, and tipped with the twisted style, which is at length deciduous. Seeds (figs. 5 & 6.) several, roundish-kidneyshaped, crested.

The filaments being all connected at the base, and all forming a simple tube; the strap-shaped, hairy, lateral stigma; and the flat legume; will distinguish this from other genera in the same class and order.

One species British.

SPARTIUM SCOPA'RIUM. Common Broom.

SPEC. CHAR. Leaves ternate, or solitary. Branches angular without thorns. Legume fringed.

Eng. Bot. t. 1339.-Curt. Fl. Lond. t. -Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 996.-Huds. Fl. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 310.-Woodv. Med. Bot. v. ii. p. 243. t. 89.-Sm. Fl. Brit. v. ii. p. 753. Engl. Fl. v. iii. p. 261.-With. (7th ed.) v. iii. p. 827.—Lightf. Fl. Scot. v. i. p. 382.-Sib. Fl. Oxon. p. 218.-Abbot's Fl. Bedf. p. 153. Purt. Midl. Fl. v. i. p. 328.-Relh. Fl. Cant. (3rd ed.) p. 287.-Johnston's Fl. of Berw. v. i. p. 157.-Walk. Fl. of Oxf. p. 204.—Mack. Cat. of Pl. of Ireland, p. 65.— Genista, Johnson's Ger. p. 1311.-Genista angulosa trifolia, Ray's Syn. p. 474.-Genista Scopária, Lamarck's Flore Françoise, v. iv. p. 497.-Hook. Fl. Scot. p. 211.-Grev. Fl. Edin. p. 154.-Fl. Devon. pp. 119 & 173.-Genista vulgaris, Gray's Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 595.—Cytisus scopárius, Link.-Lindl. Syn. p. 77.-Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 319.

Fig. 1. Calyx.-Fig. 2. Calyx, Stamens, and Style.-Fig. 3. Germen and Style. Fig. 4. Legume.-Figs. 5 & 6. Seed.-Fig. 6. A little magnified.

*From spao, Gr. to draw, because ropes, by which things are drawn, are formed of it. Dr. THORNTON.

From dis, Gr. twice, and adelphos, Gr. a brother. (Two brotherhoods.) The 17th class in the LINNEAN Artificial System. It comprehends those plants which bear perfect flowers, the stamens of which are united by the lower part of their filaments into 2 sets. In a few instances both sets are combined at the base, which is the case in the genus Spártium; but in general, in the order Decandria of this class, there are nine united filaments, and one odd one.

LOCALITIES-On heaths; and in dry woods, and fields, on a gravelly soil.Frequent in most counties in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.

A Shrub.-Flowers in May and June.

A large bushy shrub, from 3 to 6 feet, or more, high, very much branched. Branches long, straight, angular, dark green, smooth, and tough. Leaves deciduous, scattered, small, ternate; the upper ones generally simple; leaflets inversely egg-shaped, blunt, entire; silky when young. Flowers axillary, solitary, or in pairs; on round, smooth flower-stalks, which are longer than the leaves. Calyx somewhat bell-shaped, often purplish; the upper segment with 2 teeth larger than those of the lower. Corolla large and handsome, of a fine golden yellow; sometimes tinged with orange; more rarely of a uniform pale lemon-colour. Standard nearly round, slightly notched at the summit. The two petals of the keel rather hooked, and united at the lower edge by an intertexture of very fine, soft, woolly hairs. Stamens four long and six short. Tube of the filaments soon split by the swelling germen. Style bowed almost into a circle, and after flowering into a spiral, the extremity not hairy. Legume brown, flat, above an inch long, nearly smooth at the sides, but fringed with hairs at each margin. Seeds about 15 or 16, each with a gland or crest at the base, which falls off when the seeds are fully ripe.

The great profusion of beautiful, golden yellow blossoms, which this shrub produces during the early part of Summer, renders it highly deserving a place in the shrubbery. It merits some attention also as a useful plant in rural œeconomy and medicine. "It was formerly called Planta Genista, and under this name possesses much historial interest, as from hence was derived the word Plantagenet. GEFROI, duke of Anjou, father of our Henry the Second, was in the practice of wearing a sprig of Planta Genista in his cap; or, as an old writer quaintly expresses it, he wore commonly a broom-stalk in his bonnet ;' and from this circumstance he acquired the name of Plantagenet, which he transmitted to his princely descendants, who all bore it, from Henry, who has been called the first royal sprig of Genista, down to Richard the Third, the last degenerate scion of the plant of Anjou." Wild Garland, p. 76.

·

The broom has a bitter taste and diuretic quality. A decoction of the young twigs is a good remedy in dropsies. In the neighbourhood of Ghent, Broom is sown with the view of improving poor sandy soils, and the young flower-buds, gathered in the spring. are often pickled and eaten as capers. The seeds roasted, have been sometimes used as a kind of coffee, and the tender tops as a substitute for hops. The twigs and branches were formerly used for making besoms.

"The vagrant artist oft at eve reclines,

And Broom's green shoots in besoms neat combines."

They are also used for tanning leather, for which purpose they are said to be not inferior to oak bark. In North Britain cottages and ricks are thatched with this plant; and in certain districts, where coal and wood are scarce, the cultivation of it has been encouraged for the purpose of fuel. The old wood furnishes the cabinet-maker with most beautiful materials for vaneering. The macerated bark is found capable of being manufactured into cloth; and the plant, when burnt, affords a tolerably pure alkaline salt.

The flowers yield an abundant supply of honey for bees. In some parts of Britain, it is customary to pasture flocks where Broom abounds in blossom, and thus in the opinion of many intelligent farmers, is the disease called the rot prevented.

Orobanche major, or Broom-rape, is sometimes found attached to the roots of this plant. The Broom is now the badge of the Highland clan FORBES.

[graphic]

WA.D.del.

CONVALLARIA MAJÁLIS. LILY OF THE VALLEY.

Pub by W. Baxter, Botanic Garden, OXFORD. 1836.

CONVALLA'RIA*.

P.

Linnean Class and Order. HEXA'NDRIA†, MONOGY'NIA. Natural Order. SMILA'CEE. Dr. R. Brown.-Lindl. Syn. p. 270.; Introd. to Nat. Syst. of Bot. p. 277.-Loud. Hort. Brit. 538.-ASPA'RAGI, Juss. Gen. Pl. p. 40.-Sm. Gr. of Bot. p. 71.ASPARAGI'NEÆ, Tribe PARI'DEÆ. Rich. by Macgilliv. p. 402.CONVALLARIA CEÆ, Link.

GEN. CHAR. Calyx none. Corolla (Perianthium +) (fig. 1.) inferior, of one petal, bell-shaped, deciduous; the border in 6 blunt, spreading segments. Filaments (fig. 1.) 6, awl-shaped, equal, very short, inserted into some part of the tube of the corolla, not reaching to the border. Anthers terminal, oblong, upright. Germen (fig. 2.) superior, roundish. Style threadshaped, longer than the stamens. Stigma blunt, triangular. Berry (fig. 3.) globular, of 3 cells. Seeds (fig. 5.) 1 or 2 in each cell, externally globose, with a horny albumen; the embryo straight, opposite to the scar.

The naked, inferior, six-cleft, deciduous Corolla; the triangular stigma; and the 3-celled berry; will distinguish this from other Genera in the same class and order.

Four species British.

CONVALLA'RIA MAJA'LIS §. Lily of the Valley. May Lily. SPEC. CHAR. Scape semicylindrical. Leaves 2, elliptical, radical. Flowers racemed, cup-shaped, drooping.

Engl. Bot. t. 1035.-Curt. F!. Lond. t. 302.-Linn. Sp. Pl. p. 451.-Huds. Fl. Angl. (2nd ed.) p. 146.-Sm. Fl. Brit. v. i. p. 370. Eng. Fl. v. ii. p. 154.— With. (7th ed.) v. ii. p. 433.-Gray's Nat. Arr. v. ii. p. 187.-Lindl. Syn. p. 270.-Hook. Brit. Fl. p. 152.-Sibth. Fl. Oxon. p. 111.-Abbot's Fl. Bedf. p. 76. t. 2.-Purt. Midl. Fl. v. i. p. 174. and v. iii. p. 351-Relh. Fl. Cantab. (3rd ed.) p. 141.-Curt. Brit. Entom. v. 9. t. 430.-Hook. Fl. Scot. p. 103.-Grev. Fl. Edin. p. 77.-Rev. G. E. Smith's Pl. of S. Kent. p. 21.-Perry's Pl. Varvic. Select. p. 30.-Walk. Fl. of Oxf. p. 95.--Lilium convallium, Ray's Syn. p. 264.-Johnson's Gerarde, p. 410.

LOCALITIES. In groves, woods, and on heaths, in shady situations.Oxfordshire; Beech Woods near Stoken Church; Dr. SIBTHORP. In Whichwood Forest: Dr. MARTYN. In Stoke Lyne Great Wood: Mr. G. WOODWARD, Surgeon, Bicester.-Berks; Abundant in Bagley Wood, towards Sunningwell: Mr. JAMES BENWELL, 1813. In the same place 1833. In a Copse above Childswell Farm: JOHN IRELAND, Esq. M. D. 1823 and 1832: W. B. In a small Island in the Thames, opposite Straw Hall, near Reading: Mr. A. R. BURT.-Bedfordsh. Aspley Wood: Rev. C. ABBOT. Woburn: Dr. MARTYN.-Bucks; Stowe Woods: Mr. G. WOODWARD.- Cambridgesh. Whitewood, near Gamlingay: Rev. R. RELHAN.-Cheshire; Between Bidston and Woodside: Dr. BOSTOCK -Cumberland; Coomswood, Armathwaite: Mr. HUTCHINSON.-Derbysh. On a hill called Vigelia, about 2 miles from Matlock: N. B. YOUNG, Esq. New Coll. Oxford.-Devon ; on Dartmoor, near the river Dart: Mr. H. BARRETT.-Dorsetsh. Woods at Grange, in Purbeck: Dr. PULTENEY.Durham; Castle Eden Dean: Mr. S. ROBSON.-Essex; very abundant on Little Baddow Common: J. G. in Mag. N. H. v. iv. p. 446. near Lee: Dr.

Fig. 1. Corolla cut vertically, and spread open to shew the 6 stamens.— Fig. 2. Germen, Style, and Stigma. Fig. 3 A Berry.-Fig. 4. A transverse section of do.-Fig. 5. A Seed.

* From Convallis, a valley, from the locality of the species. Dr. HOOKER. "There wrapt in verdure fragrant lilies blow,

Lilies that love the vale and hide their bells of snow."

+ See Galanthus nivalis, p. 33. note. t. See p. 33. note ‡.

From its season of flowering.

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