Brachysema
(from brachys, short, and sema, a standard; the standard of the flower is very short). ORD. Leguminosae. Elegant procumbent or climbing greenhouse. evergreen shrubs. Racemes axillary and terminal, fewflowered. Leaves alternate, oval or ovate, entire, mucronate, silky on the under surface. They thrive in a compost of peat, leaf soil, and loam, in equal proportions, made porous, if necessary, by the addition of sand. Increased by cuttings, made of half-ripened shoots in summer, placed in sandy soil, under a bell glass, in a gentle bottom heat; or by layers. Seeds may be sown in March, in heat. Brachysemas require thorough drainage, whether grown in pots or planted out. B. latifolium does best under the latter treatment, when it forms a magnificent climber for pillars or the roof.
B. lanceolatum (lanceolate-leaved). fl. rich scarlet, with the margin of the vexillum white, red at the disk, with a large yellow spot in the centre, each about 1in. long, disposed in axillary, sub-compound racemes. l. opposite, rarely alternate, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, entire, silky white beneath. h. 3ft. Swan River, 1848. (B. M. 4652.) B. latifolium (broad-leaved).* fl. crimson-scarlet, large; vexillum oblong-ovate. April. l. ovate, flat, silky beneath. New Holland, 1803. A handsome climber. (B. R. 118.) B. melanopetalum (black-petaled). Synonymous with B. undulatum. B. undulatum (undulated).* fl. deep violet-maroon, solitary or twin; vexillum oblong, cordate, convolute, and bluntish above-March. l. oblong-ovate, mucronate, undulated. New South Wales, 1820. A tall sub-scandent plant. SYN. B. melanopetalum. (B. R. 642.)