Borbonia
(named after Gaston de Bourbon, Duke of Orleans, son of Henry IV. of France, a great lover and patron of botany). ORD. Leguminosae. A genus of very ornamental greenhouse evergreen shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. Flowers yellow, disposed in terminal heads, axillary. Leaves simple, amplexicaul, alternate, exstipulate, pungent. They thrive well in a mixture of peat, loam, and sand, with good drainage. Cuttings, half-ripened, obtained in April, will root freely in sandy soil if placed under a bell glass, in a cool house.
B. barbata (bearded).* fl. sessile, villous on the outside. July. l. narrow, lanceolate, many-nerved, complicated, ciliately-bearded, and very much acuminated; branches diverging. h. 3ft. to 4ft. 1823.
B. cordata (heart-shaped). fl., corolla densely villous, with the vexillum obcordate. July. l. cordate, many-nerved, quite entire, glabrous. Branches villous. h. 3ft. to 6ft. 1759.
B. crenata (crenated).* fl. less villous than in the rest of the species. July. l. cordate, roundish, acute, denticulated, many nerved and reticulated between the nerves, and are as well as the branches, glabrous. h.3ft. to 6ft. 1774. (B.M. 274)
B. lanceolata (lance-shaped). fl. densely villous. July. l. ovate-lanceolate, pungent, many nerved, quite entire, sessile, glabrous, as well as the stem. h. 2ft. to 3ft. 1752. (L. B. C. 81.)
B. ruscifolia (Ruscus-leaved). fl. sparingly villous. July. l. cordate, many-nerved, minutely ciliated, but are otherwise glabrous, as well as the branches. h. 2ft. to 4ft. 1790. (B. M. 2128.)