BROOM (AS. (roue, Dutch (went, OHG. braino; cf. (ramble). A name given to a num ber of species of shrubs of the closely allied gen era Cytisus, Genista, and Spartium, of the natu ral order Leg,uminosa% suborder Pa pilionacefe, all of them having long, slender branches, along which are produced axillary flowers. Common broom, cytisus seoparius. the specific name be ing from the Latin s•opm, long twigs, or a besom, was once made the type of a genus under the name of Sarothamnus seoparius or communis. It is a well-known native of Europe, introdneed into the United States. growing in dry soils, and in May and June ornamenting hedge-banks, hills, and bushy places with its large yellow flowers, which are on short stalks, drooping, solitary. but produced in considerable number along the straight, slender branchlets. The whole aspect of the plant is graceful. The lower leaves have three oblong leaflets: the upper ones, which are reduced to bracts, are simple, The branches are angular and of a very dark green; very tough and much in use for making hesoms. The leaves being greatly reduced, their functions are per formed by the young stems. They have also been used for tanning and dyeing, and their fibre has been woven into a coarse, strong cloth and even made into paper. The whole plant is very bitter, with a peeuhar nauseous taste and smell when bruised. The young tops and seeds are used in medicine, being powerfully diuretic, and very beneficial in some kinds of dropsy. They are also mildly laxative, and, in large closes, emetic. They are commonly administered in the form of a decoction. Brown inhabits colder climates than furze, reaching to a greater elevation on moun tains, and being, found beyond the northern limit of furze. In 1599 plants were killed by the freeze in Washington, D. C., when the tempera ture fell to —15' F. It varies in size from a very humble shrub to one of 20 feet in height, and when it reaches this size the wood is of great value for the finer purposes of cabinet-makers and turners. Irish broom (Cytisus or S'arotham nus paters), not unfrequent as an ornamental plant in British shrubberies, is not at all a na tive of Ireland, but of Spain and Portugal. Some
species of Cytisus are valued for the fodder yield ed by the young. tender twigs. All of them are e \cellent Portugal broom or white broom I Cytisus albus). a native of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, is very often planted as an ornamental shrub, and is much ad mired for the beauty of its fascicled white flowers, which are produced upon long filiform branches. Its leaves have three leaflets. It sometimes at tains a height of 15 or 20 feet. Cytisus prolifer us ((thus is an. important fodder-plant for dry regions. It is a native of Madeira and generally goes under the name Tagosasti (q.v.). Spanish broom (Spartinin )(mecum) is a native of the south of Europe, generally growing in dry soils and rocky situations, and attaining a height of S feet or upward. Its branches are upright, round, and rush-like, a characteristic of this genus. They are smooth and bear only a few small, simple leaves. which soon drop off. The fibre of the branchlets is much used in some parts of Italy. France, and Spain, for making cloth, ropes. etc. In Spain a fine lace that is much prized is made from the fibre of this plant. In the south of France the plant is cultivated on dry. unproductive soils. The branchlets are made into bundles, dried, beaten, steeped, and washed, in order to separate the fibre. The plant possesses medical properties similar to those of the common broom. A white-flowered species, Spartium monospermum, more properly called Ornista monospermit. occasionally to be seen in shrubberies. grows abundantly on the loose sands of the coasts of Spain, and produces a similar fibre. It is mentioned by Barth as growing in great abundance in Africa to the south of the great desert. Many species somewhat resembling these are occasionally to be seen among orna mental plants, some of them often in greenhouses. The Canary Isles produce some remarkable for the fragrance of their flowers. The name brown is not given to those species of Cytisus (q.v.) and Genista (q.v.) which do not display in a marked degree the character of having long, slen der twigs. Butcher's broom is a plant of an en tirely different family.