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BROOM

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 650 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BROOM , known botanically as Cytisus, or Sarothamnus, scoparius, a member of the natural See also:

order See also:Leguminosae, a See also:shrub found on heaths and See also:commons in the See also:British Isles, and also in See also:Europe (except the See also:north) and temperate See also:Asia. The leaves are small, and the See also:function of See also:carbon-assimilating is shared by the See also:green stems. The See also:bright yellow See also:flowers scatter their See also:pollen by an explosive mechanism; the See also:weight of a See also:bee alighting on the See also:flower causes the See also:keel to split and the pollen to be shot out on to the See also:insect's See also:body. When ripe the See also:black pods explode with a sudden twisting of the valves and scatter the seeds. The twigs have a See also:bitter and nauseous See also:taste and have See also:long had a popular reputation as a diuretic; the seeds have similar properties. " See also:Butcher's broom," a very different plant, known botanically as Ruscus aculeatus, is a member of the natural order See also:Liliaceae. It is a small See also:evergreen shrub found in copses and See also:woods, but rare Cytisus scoparius, See also:Common Broom. 1. Two-lipped calyx. 5. Monadelphous stamens. 2.

Broadly ovate See also:

vexillum or 6. Hairy ovary with the long See also:standard. See also:style, thickened upwards, 3. One of the alae or wings of the and spirally curved. corolla. 7. Legume or pod. 4. Carina or keel. in the See also:southern See also:half of See also:England. The stout angular stems See also:bear leaves reduced to small scales, which subtend flattened See also:leaf-like branches (cladodes) with a See also:sharp See also:apex. The small whitish flowers are See also:borne on the See also:face of the cladodes, and are succeeded by a bright red See also:berry.

End of Article: BROOM

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