How do you recognise Gorse (Ulex europaeus)?

Leaf

Gogol, Tela Botanica · CC BY-SA 2.0

Gorse

Ulex europaeus L.

Also known as: Common gorse, Furze

Family: Fabaceae

1 to 2.5 m tall, dense, spiny clump

Heathland, banks, poor, acid ground

Flowering: All year round, mainly February – June

Full sun

Very hardy, to -20°C

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

A shrub heavily armed with long green spines, which distinguishes it from common broom, whose stems have no spines. Common broom has no spines, its stems are supple and angled, whereas gorse is bristling with rigid spines over its whole surface.

🍃 Leaves

Reduced to strong, rigid, sharp green spines

🌸 Flowers

Bright yellow, pea-shaped, coconut scent

🍎 Fruits

Small black hairy pods, bursting open when ripe

🪵 Bark

Green, heavily spiny stems; the leaves are reduced to spines.

🗺️ Distribution

Atlantic Europe, naturalised elsewhere; very common on the heathlands of the Atlantic coast and western France.

🐝 Value for pollinators

Flowers early, from winter, very rich in pollen, a major resource for bumblebees and bees before other plants flower.

✂️ Horticultural uses

Planted as a windbreak hedge on poor, sandy soil, used in heathland restoration.

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Seeds toxic, containing an alkaloid close to cytisine, active on nicotinic receptors; risk of accidental ingestion limited by the strong spines, but dangerous if eaten (livestock, pets).