Cytisus

Cytisus, a considerable genus of Leguminosae, mostly woody. C. Laburnum, a native of France, Switzerland, and South Germany, where it exceeds 20 feet in height, is a tree popular in English gardens for its pendulous racemes of yellow flowers. It has a dense dark-brown heart-wood, resembling ebony; ternate leaves, and seeds containing two poisonously emetic alkaloids, cytisine and laburnine. C. scoparius, the Broom (q.v.), is a shrub often referred to a distinct genus (Sarothamnus) from its spiral style. Its seeds contain the purgative sparteine. C. purpureus is a procumbent shrub native to Carniola, seldom exceeding a foot in height. C. purpurascens or Adami is a graft-hybrid of C. Laburnum and C. purpureus, interesting as illustrating the influence of the stock on the scion [Grafting], as the same cluster sometimes contains yellow, purple, and intermediately-coloured, or reddish, flowers. C. racemosus is a common shrubby pot-plant, with erect racemes and minute leaflets.