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10th July 2008, Brading Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
A Mediterranean upright shrub growing to 2m high (up to 3m) which now grows in the South of England and the Channel Islands. |
10th July 2008, Brading Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
The stems are woody and without spines. |
10th July 2008, Brading Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Flowers yellow and in small groups of 3 to 9 in a short raceme. |
10th July 2008, Brading Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
All the leaves are ternate (meaning in threes) and obovate (broadest nearer the end) tapering to a point at the tip. The flowers are between 9 and 12mm long. There might be the beginnings of seed pods in the lower left - the densely hairy objects. |
9th June 2011, Knighton Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
The leaves are hairy and on short stalks. The non-woody stems are ribbed/grooved (whichever is your pleasure). |
9th June 2011, Knighton Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Flowers pea-type. The seed pods are 15-25mm long, are densely hairy and contain between 3 and 6 seeds. The pods burst open when the seeds are ripe with some force, flinging the few seeds a few metres. A mature plant can produce up to 10,000 seeds every season. |
9th June 2011, Knighton Down, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Withering flowers. |
20th Sept 2014, Isle of Wight. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
It is now September and there are no flowers left, just leaves and seed pods... |
20th Sept 2014, Isle of Wight. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
The lower parts of the stems have turned woody and the flowers there have turned to seed pods. |
20th Sept 2014, Isle of Wight. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
Seed pods brown but covered in a dense mat of long white hairs which are partially swept backwards. The fruits are between 15 to 25mm long and contain between 3 and 6 seeds. The lowest pod, seen edge-on, has 5 bulges so that one has has 5 seeds. |
Not to be semantically confused with : It is an introduced non-native plant. A Mediterranean upright shrub growing to 2m high (up to 3m) which now grows in the South of England and the Channel Islands.
In some parts of the World where it is introduced it can become highly invasive displacing most other plants.
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Genista | monspessulana | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Fabaceae |
Genista (Spanish Broom) |
Pea Family [Fabaceae] |