Ulex europaeus – Gorse

  Native to a wide area of Europe, from the British Isles to the south of Portugal across to Poland and Ukraine. It is an evergreen shrub that grows around 2-3 metres tall. Its young stems are green, producing shoots and leaves that develop into spines, 1-3cm long. It produces small bright yellow flowers, around 2cm long which are produced throughout the year but mainly in the spring. It produces fruit in pods, legumes, which are 2cm long, dark purplish brown containing 2-3 small hard seeds which are ejected when the pod splits in warm weather.

  It is considered an invasive species in many countries, like Chile and New Zealand where it often causes serious problems as none of its natural predators were present as the plant was introduced to these countries from the British Isles. The plant is also known to easily catch fire and can be a fire hazard, fire may appear to destroy the plant but it can grow back from the roots.

  The specimen I have photographed is in a park cark-park. Its attractive bright colours are a nice feature however its spiny appearance, I think, makes it slightly less attractive than other evergreen shrubs.