How do you recognise Dyer's greenweed (Genista tinctoria)?

Leaf

Emmanuel Stratmains, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Dyer's greenweed

Genista tinctoria L.

Also known as: Dyer's broom

Family: Fabaceae

0.3 to 1 m tall

Banks, dry grassland, gardens, poor soils

Flowering: June – August

Full sun

Hardy to -20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Long used to dye wool and linen yellow, hence its name. Scorpion broom has spiny stems and a low, cushion-forming habit, whereas dyer's greenweed has flexible, spineless stems and a more upright habit.

🍃 Leaves

Deciduous, small, lanceolate, bright green

🌸 Flowers

Small bright yellow flowers in upright racemes, butterfly-shaped

🍎 Fruits

Small flat brown pods

🪵 Bark

Fine green-brown stems, unspined, low bushy habit

🗺️ Distribution

Europe; found in dry grassland and heathland throughout France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Honey-rich yellow summer flowering, visited by wild and honey bees.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Formerly cultivated for yellow dyeing (hence its name), now planted on dry banks and in rock gardens.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Seeds slightly toxic if eaten, as in other brooms.

⚠️ Look-alike species

Dyer's greenweed

Genista tinctoria

Scorpion broom

Genista scorpius

Scorpion broom has spiny stems and a low, cushion-forming habit, whereas dyer's greenweed has flexible, spineless stems and a more upright habit.

Dyer's greenweed

Genista tinctoria

Common broom

Cytisus scoparius

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.

Dyer's greenweed

Genista tinctoria

Spanish broom

Spartium junceum

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.

🌿 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.