Bot. [mod.L. (Linnæus, 1737), a. L. ulex (Pliny) a shrub resembling rosemary.] A genus of thorny papilionaceous shrubs belonging to the order Leguminosæ; a plant belonging to this genus, esp. Ulex Europæus the common furze, gorse, or whin.
1753. Chambers’ Cycl., Suppl., s.v.
1755. Dict. Arts & Sci., Ulex, in botany, a genus … of plants, with a papilionaceous flower; and an oblong turgid pod for its fruit.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Spec., xiii. (1860), 439. The embryonic leaves of the ulex or furze … are pinnate or divided like the ordinary leaves of the leguminosæ.
