STALK five or six feet high, branched almost to the bottom, square, of a deep red colour, smooth towards the bottom, slightly hairy above: Branches like the stalk.

LEAVES alternate, ovate, pointed, toothed on the edges, more so on the larger leaves, slightly beset with soft hairs, veins prominent on the under side, usually running parallel to each other and unbranched: Leafstalks hairy.

FLOWERS numerous, from the alæ of the leaves, growing irregularly on hairy leafy racemi, standing on long slender peduncles, which hang down as the seed-vessels are produced: in this and some others of its characters, the plant shews some affinity to the Circæa.

CALYX: a Perianthium of four leaves, sitting on the Germen, leaves narrow, concave, reddish, with green tips, the lowermost one widely separated from the others, and placed immediately under the Nectary, fig. 1.

COROLLA four Petals of a pale red colour, forming in their mode of growth the upper half of a circle, the two uppermost linear, of a deeper colour near the apex, jointed below the middle, with a small green gland on each joint, standing on short round footstalks, which are hairy when magnified, the two side Petals nearly orbicular with long narrow claws, the part between the base of the Petal and the claw of a deeper red or crimson, fig. 2.

NECTARY situated below the Petals, perfectly white, somewhat ovate, the sides folding together, before the flower fully expands, nearly upright, embracing and containing within it the Pistillum and Stamen, on touching it ever so slightly with the point of a pin, while in this state, it suddenly springs back and quits the Pistillum, the lower elastic part of it is then bent in the form represented in a magnified view of the flower on the plate, fig. 4. this curious phœnomenon has not been noticed by Cavanille.

STAMEN: Filament one, tapering and very slender just below the Anthera, arising from the same part as (and placed opposite to the base of) the Nectary the lower part of it broader, somewhat fleshy, cartilaginous, and of the same nature as the inferior part of the Nectary, with a groove as that has on the inside, so that before the flower expands, the bases of each are like two half tubes, the sides of which, nearly touching each other, wholly enclose the Pistillum; as the fructification goes forward, the Filament, endowed also with an elastic power, bends back soon after the flower is open, betwixt the two uppermost Petals, and becomes invisible to an inattentive observer; the Anthera, which is large, is at first yellow, and afterwards dark brown, fig. 5.

PISTILLUM: Germen below the Calyx, round, smooth, and green; Style filiform, white, length of the Filament; Stigma forming a small villous head, fig. 6. in some of the flowers the Pistillum appears imperfect, being much shorter than usual, and wanting the Stigma, perhaps such have not acquired their full growth, fig. 6.

PERICARPIUM (from Cavanille) a round Capsule, of four cells, and four valves, the cells many-seeded.

SEEDS very minute, ovate, affixed to a four-cornered receptacle.

[255] Cytisus Sessilifolius. Sessile-Leav'd, or Common Cytisus

Class and Order

Diadelphia Decandria

Generic Character

Cal. 2-labiatus: 2/3 Legumen basi attenuatum.

Specific Character and Synonyms

CYTISUS sessilifolius racemis erectis, calycibus bractæa triplici, foliis floralibus sessilibus. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. ed. 14. Murr. p. 666. Ait. Kew. v. 2. p. 50.

CYTISUS glabris foliis subrotundis, pediculis brevissimis. Bauh. Pin. p. 390.

CYTISUS vulgatior, the common Tree Trefoile. Park. Parad. p. 440.

No255.

The term sessilifolius has been given to this species of Cytisus, because the leaves are for the most part sessile, that is sit close to the branches, without any or very short footstalks; such they are at least on the flowering branches when the shrub is in blossom, but at the close of the summer they are no longer so, the leaves acquiring very evident footstalks.

It is a native of the more southern parts of Europe, and though in point of size and elegance it cannot vie with its kindred Laburnum, it is a deciduous shrub of considerable beauty, rarely exceeding the height of five or six feet, and producing a great profusion of bright yellow flowers, which continue in blossom a long while; they make their appearance in May and June, and are usually succeeded by seed-vessels which produce ripe seeds, by these the plant is readily propagated.

It is one of the most common shrubs we have, as well as one of the oldest inhabitants of our shrubberies, being mentioned by Parkinson in his Parad. Terrestris.

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DESCRIPTION OF THE LOPEZIA

[255] Cytisus Sessilifolius. Sessile-Leav'd, or Common Cytisus

Class and Order

Diadelphia Decandria

Generic Character

Specific Character and Synonyms

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The Botanical Magazine, Vol. 07