Colutea
(presumably from koluo, to amputate; the shrubs are said to die if the branches are lopped off; Koloutea is also used as the name of a plant by Theophrastus). Bladder Senna. ORD. Leguminosae. A Genus of deciduous shrubs, with small stipules, and impari-pinnate leaves, which are somewhat longer than the axillary few-flowered racemes. Coluteas are of the easiest culture in any common soil. They may be increased by seeds, which ripen in abundance; or by cuttings, inserted in sandy soil, in the autumn. They are chiefly valued as fast-growing shrubs which will thrive in almost any situation. C. arborescens (woody).* fl. yellow; peduncles usually bearing about six flowers. June to August. l., leaflets elliptic, retuse. h. 6ft. to 10ft. Middle and South of Europe (in hedges and bushy places), 1568. This is said to grow on the crater of Vesuvius, where little other vegetation exists. (B. M. 81.) C. a. crispa (curled). A synonym of C. a. pygmaea.
C. a. pygmaea (dwarf)* is a dwarf-growing form, with crisped leaves. SYN. C. a. crispa.
C. cruenta (bloody).* fl. reddish-yellow, peduncles three to five-flowered. Summer. l., leaflets usually seven to nine, glaucous. h. 4ft. to 6ft. South-east Europe and Levant, 1731.
C. haleppica (Aleppo). fl. yellow, larger than those of the other species here mentioned. l. glaucous, with small more numerous leaflets. h. 3ft. to 6ft. Levant, 1752.
C. media (intermediate). fl. orange-yellow. l. glaucescent. h. 6ft. Orient. In general aspect, this resembles C. cruenta, but differs in the colour of the flowers.