Genista

Genista (Celtic gen, 'a shrub'), a leguminous genus already mentioned under BROOM (see also GREENWEED). G. anglica, a small, much branched, very spiny shrub of poor soils, is called Petty Whin and Needle Furze in England. The Genista of Virgil and other Roman classics is supposed to be G. hispanica, of southern Europe, with branched stiff spines. The name Plantagenet is from Planta Genista; but what plant was intended, and whether the common broom, furze, or a species of Genista is not so certain. See PLANTAGENET.