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Winged Broom

Genista sagittalis.

A WINGED broom is a broom with wings, or phyllodes which are much developed petioles, and serve all the purposes of leaves in the economy of the plant. It happens that several members of the pea family, to which the plant before us belongs, are favoured by nature with the possession of wings. There is the winged pea (Tetragonolobus), the pods of which are furnished with four wings, suggestive of the windmill that is wanted for grinding the seeds. There are acacias with winged stems, such as A. alata. We have in our woods the crimson grass vetchling (Lathyrus nissolia), which never produces true leaves, but only flattened leaf-stalks; the yellow vetchling (Lathyrus aphaca), which has sagittate stipules that do duty for leaves; while in the greenhouse may perhaps be found Bossiea rufa, which has flattened stems, and does very well without leaves proper.

The winged-stemmed broom (Genista sagittalis) is a native of Europe, and quite hardy in the English garden. It will thrive in almost any soil, but must have a sunny situation. Its habit is procumbent, and therefore it is not quite a good border plant, and, moreover, its curious and interesting character cannot be fully displayed in a border. The best place for it is a sunny ledge of a good rockery, where it can spread without looking untidy, and perhaps hang over and show its heads of flowers and winged stems to advantage. To increase the stock, the plant may be divided in the root, but a much better way is to sow the seeds in the autumn in a frame, and in the following autumn put out the plants where they are to remain to flower.

How the broom came to be called genista no one can tell; the accepted derivation is from the Latin genu, the knee, but we fail to see in any of the genistas a justification, for the only suggestion of a knee is to be found in their flexibility, and there are so many flexible plants that there seems to be no special reason for noticing in the name the bending power of this genus in particular. The Plantagenets associated the history of their house with the common broom, which we incline to regard as the most splendid of all the wildings of Northern Europe. The first of the race to come under the shadow of the golden broom was Gefroi, Duke of Anjou, father of our Henry II. He playfully adorned himself when on the field of battle with a sprig of flowery broom, or, as it has been said, "he wore commonly a broom stalke in his bonnet." Thus he came to be called "Plantagenet," from the Planta genista, and the name descended honourably for the most part until it reached Richard III., when it ceased, as though ashamed of its latest associations, for after the cruel and treacherous Glo'ster there were no more Plantagenets. But the broom lives, and when it appears in full glory on the sunny sandy slopes that it loves, it becomes a question if there is any British wild plant or any European wild plant that can surpass it in glory. The gorse might compete sometimes, but the careful critic will see a difference. The gorse is grand indeed, but the broom is brighter in every way, and in the glitter of gold stands alone in its splendour. "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 twin'd. "The chieftain who wore thee high on his crest, And bequeath'd to his race thy simple name, Long ages past 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." The species of broom that are most deserving of notice as garden plants are the following:-- Spanish broom (Spartium junceum or Genista Hispanica). This resembles the common broom; the stems are leafless or nearly so, the flowers large, yellow, and fragrant.

Portugal broom (Spartium album or Genista alba). This has slender, furrowed, erect branches, a few leaves of one, two, or three hairy leaflets, and an abundance of flowers, white or pink.

Greenweed (Genista tinctoria) is a very pretty native shrub, met with on moist peaty land, and well adapted for the garden rockery. There is a double variety that makes a fine display of its yellow flowers.

Common broom (Cytisus scoparius), also classed generically as genista, spartium, and sarothamnus. This has slender, angular, silky branches, on which appear the splendid yellow flowers in the month of May. There are several varieties: one with double yellow flowers, another with white flowers, and yet another with purple flowers. The common yellow and the white are the best; the purple variety is a mere curiosity.

Black-rooted broom (Cytisus nigricans) is a pretty shrub, with leaves in threes and terminal racemes of yellow flowers. It is a good shrubbery and rockery plant.

Round-headed broom (Cytisus capitatus) is a very hairy plant, with flowers in a round head.