Spanish broom or Dyer's greenweed: how to tell them apart?
Spanish 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
Spanish broom
Spartium junceum
Dyer's greenweed
Genista tinctoria
Spanish broom is a large shrub (up to 3 m), almost leafless, with round, rush-like green stems and very fragrant flowers, whereas dyer's greenweed stays low (rarely more than 1 m) and keeps small, clearly visible leaves.
🍃 Leaves
Few, tiny, quickly deciduous — photosynthesis takes place mainly through the stems
Deciduous, small, lanceolate, bright green
🌸 Flowers
Large, very fragrant bright yellow flowers, butterfly-shaped
Small bright yellow flowers in upright racemes, butterfly-shaped
🍎 Fruits
Long flat pods hairy along the edges
Small flat brown pods
🪵 Bark
Green, cylindrical, rush-like, flexible stems
Fine green-brown stems, unspined, low bushy habit
📏 Size
1 to 3 m tall
0.3 to 1 m tall
🗺️ Habitat
Dry hillsides and banks of southern France, widely planted
Banks, dry grassland, gardens, poor soils
⚠️ Toxicity
Seeds toxic if eaten (alkaloids), as in other brooms.
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, clearly visible leaves, whereas Spanish broom is a large shrub (up to 3 m) almost leafless, with round, rush-like green stems and much larger, very fragrant flowers.
🌿 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.