Genista
(the old Latin name used by Virgil). ORD. Leguminosae. A large genus (about seventy species have been described) of pretty dwarf-growing unarmed or prickly, greenhouse or hardy shrubs, natives of Europe, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. Flowers yellow, rarely white, produced either singly or in clusters from the angles of the leaves, or at the ends of the branches. Leaves simple or trifoliolate. The hardy species here described are very pretty plants for growing on rockwork, in almost any ordinary soil, where they will flower continuously throughout the summer. For general culture, see Cytisus. G. aetnensis (Etna). fl., racemes terminal. June and July. l. few, linear, silky. h. 6ft. to 15ft. Sicily and Sardinia, 1816. Plant erect, much branched. (B. M. 2674, under name of Spartium aetnensis.) G. anglica (English). Needle Furze; Pettywhin. fl., racemes few-flowered, terminal; floriferous branches unarmed. Summer. l. ovate-lanceolate; spines simple. Root woody, long, creeping. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Europe (Britain). Plant smooth. (Sy. En. B. 326.) G. anxantica (Anxantic). fl. racemose. Summer. l. ovate-elliptic rather coriaceous, veiny. Branches angular; stems diffuse. Naples, 1818. Plant quite diffuse. (S. F. G. ii. 266.) G. ephedroides (Ephedra-like). fl. rather silky, alternate, spicate. Summer. l. few, sessile, trifoliolate, and simple; leaflets linear, smoothish. Branches spinescent, stiff, terete, at length striated. h. 2ft. to 3ft. Corsica and Sardinia.
G. hispanica (Spanish). fl., racemes terminal, somewhat capitate; floriferous branches unarmed. Summer. l. lanceolate, villous; spines branched, stiff. h. 6in. to 12in. South-western Europe, 1759. (L. B. C. 1738.) G. ovata (ovate). fl. in short racemes. Summer. l. ovate, or ovate-oblong, hairy. Stems numerous, hairy, erect, somewhat herbaceous, striated, terete. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Central and Southern Europe, 1816. (L. B. C. 482.) G. pilosa (hairy). Greenweed. fl. axillary, on short pedicels. Summer. l. obovate-lanceolate, obtuse, complicated, downy. Stem procumbent, striated, branched. Europe (Britain). (SyEn. B. 327.) G. radiata (rayed). fl., heads two to four-flowered, terminal. Summer. l. trifoliolate, nearly sessile, opposite; leaflets linear, rather silky. Branches angular, crowded, glabrous. h. 1ft to 3ft. South Europe, 1758. (B. M. 2260, under name of Spartium radiatum.) G. Retama (Retam). fl. white, silky; racemes lateral, few-flowered. Summer. l. very few, linear-oblong, pubescent. Branches erect, slender, twiggy, flexible. h. 2ft. to 4ft. Spain, Portugal, &c., 1670. (B. M. 683, under name of Spartium monospermum.) G. sagittalis (arrow-jointed). fl. disposed in an ovate, terminal, leafless spike. Spring. l. ovate-lanceolate. Stems prostrate; branches herbaceous, ascending, two-edged, membranous. h. 6in. South Europe, 1750. G. tinctoria (dyers'). Dyers' Greenweed. fl. disposed in spicate racemes, smooth. Spring and autumn. l. lanceolate, smoothish. Stems erect; branches terete, striated, erect. h. 1ft. to 2ft. Europe (Britain), North and West Asia. This species, of which there is a very pretty double-flowered from, yields a yellow dye.
G. triangularis (triangular). fl., racemes terminal, short. Summer. l. trifoliolate, the upper ones simple; leaflets ovatelanceolate, villous. Branches triquetrous, decumbent. h. 2ft. to 4ft. South Europe. (B. M. 314, under name of G. triquetra.) G. virgata (twiggy). fl. silky, disposed in something like racemes. March. l. oblong-lanceolate, rather silky. Branches twiggy, terete, striated. h. 3ft. to 4ft. Madeira, 1777. (B. R. xxx. 11.)