Burtonia
(named after D. Burton, a plant collector for Kew Gardens). ORD. Leguminosae. A genus of handsome greenhouse dwarf Health-like shrubs, natives of West Australia. Flowers axillary, often thickly gathered at the ends of the branches; corollas rich purple; keel generally of a deeper colour, and the standard having sometimes a yellow blotch at its base. Leaves simple or trifoliolate, sessile, usually awl-shaped. They thrive well in a mixture of loam, peat, leaf soil, and sand, in equal proportions, with thorough drainage; but care must be taken not to give them too much water, as they require to be kept moderately dry, and are difficult to preserve in a living state. Young cuttings root freely in a pot of sandy soil, in a cool house, with a bell glass placed over them; but some of the species produce seed in abundance, which are the best means of increasing them.
B. conferta (cluster-flowered).* fl. violet. July. l. simple, very much crowded, six to eight lines long, linear-subulate, with revolute margins, and are, as well as the branches, smooth. h. 2ft. 1830. (B. R. 1600.) B. minor (smaller). A synonym of Gompholobium minus. B. pulchella (beautiful). A synonym of B. scabra.
B. scabra (rough).* fl. purple; peduncles axillary, bi-bracteate. April. l., leaflets glabrous, linear-mucronate. Branches puberulous. h. 2ft. 1846. SYN. B. pulchella. (B. M. 5000.) B. villosa (villose). fl. purple, large; peduncles axillary, bi-bracteate. May. l. leaflets linear-subulate, bluntish, scabrid. h. 2ft. 1846. (B. M.4410.)