(Latin, a little crown: from the arrangement of the flowers). Leguminosae. Crown Vetch. Shrubs and herbs, some grown in the hardy garden and some in greenhouses, for their yellow or purple bloom.

Annuals or perennials, often woody, smooth or rarely silky-hairy, with odd-pinnate leaves, entire leaflets, and purple or yellow flowers in peduncled heads or umbels; calyx 5-toothed; corolla papilionaceous, the standard orbicular and the keel incurved, wings obovate or oblong; stamens 9 and 1: pod jointed, terete or 4-angled; seeds oblong. - Species about 20, Medit. region and Canary Isls., W. Asia. The shrubby C. Emerus and C. glauca are useful in S. Calif, and the southern states. The species are occasionally grown in borders. C. glauca is sometimes grown under glass for spring bloom, after the manner of Cytisus. All are of easy cultivation.

a. Flowers yellow. b. Plant herbaceous. cappadocica, Willd. (C. iberica, Bieb.). Low perennial herb, about 1 ft. high: leaflets 9-11, obcordate, ciliate: umbels 7-8-flowered; flowers yellow, large, July, Aug.: stipules membranaceous, rounded, ciliate-toothed. Asia Minor. L.B.C. 8:789. B.M. 2646. - A good trailer for rock-gardens and the margins of borders.

bb. Plant shrubby, at least at base. c. Claw of the petals much longer than the calyx. Emerus, Linn. (Emerus major, Mill.). Scorpion Senna. Fig. 1069. Dense, symmetrical shrub, 3-5 ft. high, the branches green and striate: leaves deep glossy green; leaflets 5-7, obovate; stipules small: peduncles 3-flowered; flowers large, yellow, tipped with red. Blooms freely, May-July. Showy, half-hardy. S. Eu. B.M. 445. Gng. 5:36-Evergreen in southern states.

emeroides, 'Boiss. & Sprun. (C. Emerus variety emeroides, Wohlf.). Bush, 3-6 ft.: branches glabrous or soft-hairy; leaflets 2-3 pairs, heart-shaped: peduncle 2-3 times as long as the If., the umbel 5-8-flowered; flowers yellow; claw of petals about twice as long as the calyx: pod 2-3 in. long, very narrow. April, May. S. Eu.

cc. Claw of petals scarcely exceeding the calyx.

Juncea

Linn. Glabrous gray-green shrub: branches rush-like, terete, nearly naked: leaflets 3-7, linearoblong, obtuse, somewhat fleshy, scattered: flowers golden yellow, in 5-7-flowered umbels: pod hanging, lance-linear. S.France. B.R. 820. L.B.C. 3:235.

Minima

Linn. Glabrous, diffuse, soft gray-green sub-shrub, 3 or 4 in. high, procumbent: leaflets 7-13, ovate, obtuse or retuse, scattered or at base of plant: flowers golden yellow in 7-8-flowered umbels, sweet-scented. In dry sands. Eu. B.M. 2179.

Fig. 1069. Coronilla Emerus.

Glauca

Linn. Glabrous shrub 2-4 ft. high: stipules small, lanceolate: leaflets 5-7, obovate, very blunt, glaucous: flowers 7-8 in each umbel, yellow, heavy-scented. S. Eu. B.M. 13. - One of the common garden shrubs of S. Calif., flowering all the year. There is a variegated form.

aa. Flowers white and pink.

Viminalis

Salisb. Trailing shrub: stipules soon deciduous, ovate, membranaceous: leaflets 13-21, obovate, notched, glaucous: umbels 6-10-flowered; flowers pale red or white with a red stripe on the banner. Algeria. - Promising as a florists' plant for cut-flowers Flowers all the year in S. Calif.

Varia

Linn. Crown Vetch. Fig. 1070. Straggling or ascending smooth herb, 1-2 ft. high: leaves sessile; leaflets 11-25, oblong or obovate, blunt and mucronate, 1/2 - 3/4in. long: peduncles longer than leaves; flowers in dense umbels, 1/2in- long, pinkish white. June-Oct. Eu. B.M. 258. Gng. 5:337. - Trailing plant for hardy herbaceous border. Jared G. Smith.

Fig. 1070. Coronilla varia. (X.1/2)

L. H. B.†