Common broom or Dyer's greenweed: how to tell them apart?
Common broom and Dyer's greenweed look alike and are often mixed up. Here is how to tell them apart, feature by feature, with their photos and the details to look for.
⚡ The quick answer
Common broom
Cytisus scoparius
Dyer's greenweed
Genista tinctoria
Common broom is taller (up to 2.5 m), almost leafless, its angular green stems carrying out most of the photosynthesis, whereas dyer's greenweed stays low (rarely more than 1 m) and keeps small, clearly visible lanceolate leaves all summer.
🍃 Leaves
Small, often reduced to mere scales on the green stems
Deciduous, small, lanceolate, bright green
🌸 Flowers
Large bright yellow flowers, butterfly-shaped
Small bright yellow flowers in upright racemes, butterfly-shaped
🍎 Fruits
Flat black pods that burst open noisily when ripe
Small flat brown pods
🪵 Bark
Angular green stems, photosynthetic even without leaves
Fine green-brown stems, unspined, low bushy habit
📏 Size
1 to 2.5 m tall
0.3 to 1 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Heathland, banks, acid and poor soils
Banks, dry grassland, gardens, poor soils
⚠️ Toxicity
Seeds and young shoots toxic if eaten (alkaloids including sparteine), causing heart and digestive problems.
Seeds slightly toxic if eaten, as in other brooms.
🔎 And from the Dyer's greenweed side
Dyer's greenweed is a low subshrub (rarely more than 1 m) with small lanceolate leaves clearly visible all summer, whereas common broom is taller (up to 2.5 m) and almost leafless, its angular green stems carrying out most of the photosynthesis.
🌿 Go further
Want to practise spotting these details on real photos? Floraneo offers profiles and quizzes for dozens of look-alike species.
ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.