Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link Fabaceae. Common broom, Genista. Distribution: Western and central Europe. Culpeper (1650) writes: 'Genista. Broom: … clense and open the stomach, break the stone in the reins [kidneys] and bladder, help the green sickness [anaemia]. Let such as are troubled with heart qualms or faintings, forbear it, for it weakens the heart and spirit vital' and in respect of the flowers he writes: 'Broome-flowers, purge water, and are good in dropsies [now regarded as heart failure with fluid retention].' Photographed in the Medicinal Garden of the Royal College of Physicians, London.

Four British garden plants: flowering stems and floral segments. Coloured etching, c. 1837.

Two plants, Spanish broom (Spartium junceum) and gorse (Ulex europaeus): flowering and fruiting stems. Coloured etching by C. Pierre, c. 1865, after P. Naudin.

Seven plants, including three orchids and a broom: flowering stems. Coloured etching, c. 1836.

A leopard facing left surrounded by various named flowers and insects. Etching by W. Hollar, 1662, after himself.

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