How do you recognise Dwarf gorse (Ulex minor)?

Leaf

Emmanuel Stratmains, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Dwarf gorse

Ulex minor Roth

Family: Fabaceae

0.3 to 1 m tall, lower and more spreading than gorse

Heathland, banks, dry gardens, poor, acid soils

Flowering: August – November

Full sun

Hardy to -15°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Smaller and less aggressive than gorse, its yellow flowers give off a coconut scent. Same spiny outline and yellow flowers, but dwarf gorse is much lower and more compact, with shorter, less rigid spines than gorse.

🍃 Leaves

Reduced to fine green spines

🌸 Flowers

Small bright yellow pea-shaped flowers, coconut scent

🍎 Fruits

Small hairy pods

🪵 Bark

Very spiny green stems, low, compact habit

🗺️ Distribution

Western Europe (Atlantic seaboard); found mainly in western and south-western France, on acid heathland.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Nectar-rich yellow flowers visited by bees and bumblebees in late summer, when few other resources are available.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Used in restoring heathland and sandy banks, little used in ornamental gardens.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Seeds probably toxic like those of gorse, same genus (alkaloid close to cytisine); to be treated with the same caution if ingested.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Dwarf gorse

Ulex minor

Gorse

Ulex europaeus

Same spiny outline and yellow flowers, but dwarf gorse is much lower and more compact, with shorter, less rigid spines than gorse.

🌿 Other Fabaceae to discover

Styphnolobium japonicum

ℹ️ Educational profile — do not use it to judge whether a plant is edible or safe.

🌱 This database is constantly evolving — species and information are added and corrected regularly. Spotted a mistake? Report it below.