TREATMENT FROM THE JEPSON MANUAL	previous taxon | next taxon Jepson Interchange (more information)
	©Copyright 1993 by the Regents of the University of California Print edition is available from the University of California Press

	The second edition of The Jepson Manual (2012) is available from the University of California Press
	See also the Jepson eFlora, which parallels the Second Edition

FABACEAE

LEGUME FAMILY

Annual to tree
Leaves generally compound, alternate, stipuled; leaflets generally entire
Inflorescence: generally raceme, spike, umbel or head; flowers sometime 1–2 in axils
Flowers generally bisexual, generally bilateral; hypanthium generally flat or cup-like; sepals generally 5, fused; petals generally 5, free, or the 2 lower ± fused; stamens 1–many, often 10 with 9 filaments at least partly fused, 1 (uppermost) free; pistil 1, ovary superior, generally 1-chambered, ovules 1–many, style, stigma 1
Fruit: legume, sometimes including a stalk-like base above receptacle, dehiscent, or indehiscent and breaking into 1-seeded segments, or indehiscent, 1-seeded, and achene-like
Seeds 1–several, often ± reniform, generally hard, smooth
Genera in family: ± 650 genera, 18,000 species: worldwide; with grasses, requisite in agriculture and most natural ecosystems. Many cultivated, most importantly Arachis , peanut; Glycine , soybean; Phaseolus , beans; Medicago ; Trifolium ; and many orns. [Polhill & Raven (eds) 1981 Advances in legume systematics; Allen & Allen 1981 Leguminosae] Family description and key to genera by Duane Isely.

GENISTA

BROOM

Elizabeth McClintock

Shrub, small tree, unarmed
Stems generally ribbed or angled, persistently green
Leaves ternately 1-compound, alternate, petioled; stipules fused to leaf bases, rarely 0
Inflorescence: racemes or heads, terminal or axillary, or clusters on axillary short-shoots
Flower bilateral; calyx generally < corolla, 2-lipped, upper lip strongly 2-lobed, lobes ± 1/3 tube, lower lip 3-lobed, lobes < upper lobes; petals 5, yellow, banner generally ovate or rounded, outside generally glabrous or variously hairy, keel narrow-oblong, ± straight on lower surface, often hairy; stamens 10, filaments fused; style ± abruptly bent at tip
Fruit dehiscent, narrow-oblong, slightly inflated or not; pedicel < 7 mm
Seeds several, generally arilled
Species in genus: 87 species: Eur, w Asia, n Africa, Canary Islands
Etymology: (Latin: from planta genista , from which English Plantagenet monarchs took their name)
Reference: [Gibbs & Dingwall 1971 Bol Soc Brot 45:269–316]
Most naturalized CA plants are hybrids involving G. canariensis, G. monspessulana, G. stenopetala.

Introduced

G. maderensis (Webb & Berthel.) Lowe

Shrub < 2 m
Stem: twigs generally dull-yellow-brown-hairy
Leaf: stipules 3–6 mm, persistent, giving older twigs a scaly appearance; petiole 5–10 mm; leaflets 10–15 mm, obovate to oblanceolate, length ± 2 X width, upper surface sparsely hairy, lower surface densely so
Inflorescence: racemes, 15–35 mm, axillary; flowers 5–15; pedicels 2–4 mm
Flower: calyx 5–7 mm, densely silky-hairy; banner 10–15 mm, widely ovate, glabrous
Fruit 20–35 mm, densely silky-hairy
Ecology: Uncommon. Disturbed areas
Elevation: < 300 m.
Bioregional distribution: Reported but unconfirmed in San Francisco Bay Area (Santa Clara Co.), Outer South Coast Ranges (Monterey Co.)
Distribution outside California: native to Madeira
Synonyms: Cytisus m. (Webb & Berthel.) Masferer