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broom
(redirected from Broom (tool))

   Also found in: Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.03 sec.
broom, common name for plants of two closely related and similar Old World genera, Cytisus and Genista, of the family Leguminosae (pulse pulse, in botany, common name for members of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), a large plant family, called also the pea, or legume, family. Numbering about 650 genera and 17,000 species, the family is third largest, after the asters and the orchids.
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 family). They are mostly twiggy leguminous shrubs with abundant yellow or white (in Cytisus, purple also) pealike blossoms. The common, or Scotch, broom (Cytisus scoparius) is naturalized in parts of North America; the tops have been much used as a diuretic. The Canary broom, or so-called genista of florists, is Cytisus canariensis, a yellow-flowered evergreen shrub. Species of the genus Genista include Genista tinctoria, called also dyer's-greenweed, which yields yellow-to-green dyes. Other plants are also called broom. Broom is classified in the division Magnoliophyta Magnoliophyta (măg'nōlēŏf`ətə)
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, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Leguminosae.

broom

Enlarge picture
Broom (Cytisus beanii)
(credit: Valerie Finnis)
In botany, any of several leguminous shrubs or small trees of the genus Cytisus, native to temperate regions of Europe and western Asia. They are cultivated widely, chiefly for their attractive flowers. The compound leaves have three leaflets. The solitary or clustered yellow, purple, or white flowers resemble pea flowers. The fruit is a flat pod. A common, almost leafless species is C. scoparius, a shrub with bright yellow flowers often grown for erosion control in warm climates. Butcher's broom (Ruscus aculeatus) is a shrub of the lily family with small whitish flowers and red berries.


broom
1. any of various yellow-flowered Eurasian leguminous shrubs of the genera Cytisus, Genista, and Spartium, esp C. scoparius
2. any of various similar Eurasian plants of the related genera Genista and Spartium

broom
traditional representation of humility. [Plant Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 167]
See : Humility


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