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25th Sept 2014, Trotton Common, West Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
A shortish Gorse, spreading more than the other gorses and growing up to 1m or so. |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
Not as robust as Western Gorse nor as large as Gorse, rather it is prostrate to erect. |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
The main spines (longer ones) are both thinner and shorter (at 0.6 to 1.5cm [up to 2.5cm] long) than either other Gorse, quite flexible and not as sharp. All three Gorse species are densely spiny, but their lengths and sharpness differ. |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
It flowers in the same months (July to October) as does Western Gorse (avoiding the earlier season of Gorse [April to June] but don't rely on this - Gorse flowers can also last longer than that). In the centre is a flower showing al 5 petals: the banner is pointing skywards at the camera, the two curved wings loosely cradle the 2 inner keels which are protruding beyond the wings. |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
Like all Gorses, the calyx is fairly long, almost concolorous with the petals, and looks like 2 petals (which surround top and bottom of the flower). In the case of Dwarf Gorse the calyx, at 6 to 10mm long, is almost as long as the flower inside! The longest petal, the banner, is 7.5 to 12.5mm long. |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
The spines have shorter branch spines coming off the sides (but then, so do all gorses). |
27th July 2008, Bouldnor, IoW. | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Hilary Higgins |
In contrast to Western Gorse and Gorse the main spines usually lack the moderately grooved furrows of Western Gorse and the deeper furrows of Gorse, but they may have shallow striations or grooves. However, no source mentions these white hairs on the spines so maybe not all Dawrf Gorse have them (?). |
25th Sept 2014, Trotton Common, West Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
When fully in-flower the flowers are close to the stem and in a very long spike. |
3rd Dec 2012, Iping Common, Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
Young leaves and spines are very hairy.
The branched soft spines can more easily be discerned on this specimen where they are more widely separated and obscured by but few flowers. |
25th Sept 2014, Trotton Common, West Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
10th Dec 2014, Stedham Common, Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
10th Dec 2014, Stedham Common, Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
Sepals and petals turning brown, revealing their veins. The grooves on the spines are only faint and shallow. |
3rd Dec 2012, Iping Common, Sussex | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
20th Jan 2014, Sunbank Park, Moray. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
The hairy, brown seed-pods (fruits) in amongst the persistent but now fawn-coloured petals and sepals. Fruits 6 to 8.5mm long. and opening in Spring. |
Not to be semantically confused with : Easily mistaken for : 2 other species of Gorse (Ulex) (and 2 of their hybrids) Hybridizes with :
Distinguishing Feature : See notes above
No relation to : It is a low growing shrub, the eastern counterpart to Western Gorse, and in the sun barely reaches higher than 30cm, but partly shaded by other plants it can reach 1m. It grows amongst heather and can be grazed by livestock since the spines are relatively soft. Growing on heaths mainly south of the Thames in the SE of England in Dorset and Wiltshire but can be discovered in Flintshire, Cumbria and Nottinhhamshire. NOTES: to get any reliable identification, all measurements should be the arithmetic mean of 10 measurements in order to truly differentiate between the three Gorses. But there are some short-cuts. For instance, Gorse is the only one where the flowers smell of Coconut (or so the books imply).
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Ulex | minor | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Fabaceae |
Ulex (Gorses) |
Pea Family [Fabaceae] |