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Genista tinctoria ssp. tinctoriaDyer's Greenweed exists as two sub-species, ssp. tinctoria and ssp. littoralis, with the former not being rare, but the latter is so rare as to deserve a Stace rating of [RRR]All these are assumed ssp. tinctoria, the non-rare sub-species. But there should be photos of the rare ssp. littoralis right at the bottom. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
Early in the year, before flowering. Sub-species unknown, but these specimens from Walney Island are likely to be ssp. tinctoria |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
The yellow flowers are trying to come out (top right). The other plants are still in the flower-bud stage, almost ready to emerge. It is an upright, little-branched plant growing to 20 to 50cm tall. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves are approximately alternate up the stem, pointed-oval, without teeth, to 30mm long. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
The leaf hairs are only on the edges of the leaves. Stem hairs look shorter and half-appressed, directed upwards. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
As-yet unopened flower buds at the summit. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves orientated upwardly. |
3rd June 2010, Walney Island, Millom, Cumbria. | Photo: © RWD |
Leaves with a midrib underneath. Leaf hairs only on the leaf edges. The main stem may be ribbed, it is here. |
Later in the year when it is flowering.
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1st July 2009, Newtown NNR, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Not un-like a very short Spanish Broom. |
1st July 2009, Newtown NNR, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Grows to 60cm, usually upright. |
1st July 2009, Newtown, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
Has a spike of yellow flowers nearer the summit. |
27th June 2013, Chidham, Chichester, West Sussex. | Photo: © Dawn Nelson |
1st July 2009, Newtown, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Mike Cotterill |
The stems are almost straight (like those of Spanish Broom) but it has short narrow elliptical and hairless simple leaves almost all the way up the stem (not just only near the bottom like Spanish Broom - which is in a differing genus, Spartium). |
1st July 2009, Newtown, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Flowers all-yellow. |
13th June 2009, a copse, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Flowering stalks branch off from the main stem at ~60° angle to it. |
13th June 2009, a copse, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Flowers with long narrow banners, two curved and cupped wings with the cupped keel usually between the wings. Larger flowers than any other Genista species: 10 to 15mm. The plant is never spiny, so cannot be mistaken for any Gorse plant (which is in the same genus, Genista). The jizz of the flowers is of one with a very long narrow face. |
13th June 2009, a copse, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Calyx, corolla and leaves usually hairless. |
5th July 2016, Rudge Hill, Gloucester Vale. | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
But as you can see, the leaves and stems might have a few short hairs, or might not. Leaves simple, elliptical, narrow and short. |
5th July 2016, Rudge Hill, Gloucester Vale. | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
Open wide please. The flowers are 10 to 15mm long, perhaps twice as long when gaping wide open like this agasp specimen. The style is longer that the filaments but both are the same pale yellow, which is not as deep a yellow as are the petals. Anthers visible at tips of filaments.
The leaves have very short stalks and are nearly sessile. |
5th July 2016, Rudge Hill, Gloucester Vale. | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
A leaf directed upwards parallel with the stem as most are. The stem is ribbed here (although only a few stems are ribbed like this). Any hairs are short and appressed if a little curly. You can just about make out some short hairs on the edge of the leaf, all so closely appressed to it that they are hard to make out. |
1st Aug 2017, Brockworth village, Gloucester | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
The seed pods. |
1st Aug 2017, Brockworth village, Gloucester | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
Young seed pod with undeveloped seeds within. |
1st Aug 2017, Brockworth village, Gloucester | Photo: © Mike Baldwin |
An older and riper seed pod. |
Genista tinctoria ssp. littoralis(?)This sub-species is so rare as to deserve a Stace rating of [RRR]. |
12th Aug 2017, a meadow, Newton, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
Fruits 15-30mm long, hairless on ssp. tinctoria, but as you can see here there are hairs on these specimens (albeit very short ones).
On ssp. tinctoria the leaves are usually hairless and >4 times longer than wide (if instead they are < 4 times longer than wide and hairy then the plant is probably the rare [RRR] ssp. littoralis). From this specification, it looks like these specimens from 12th Aug 2017 in a meadow at Newton, IoW are probably the rare sub-species ssp. littoralis. But another source says that the sub-species littoralis IS PROSTRATE, and grows only on the sea cliffs of Cornwall and North Devon - so who knows!. |
12th Aug 2017, a meadow, Newton, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Geoff Toone |
The fruit pods are flat, blunt (apart from the spike at the tips here...) and nominally 'hairless', but these do have short hairs emerging from tiny pimples. |
Dodder on Dyer's Greenweed |
Porchfield, Isle of Wight | Photo: (CC by 2.0) Richard Smout |
Dodder (the plant with the clustered white flowers) behaving parasitically on Dyer's Greenweed. |
Not to be mistakenly identified for : Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum) [a plant with similar name and similar yellow flowers in the same Pea family but in a differing Genus]
Easily mis-identified as : Genista tinctoria occurs as either of two sub-species :
Many similarities to : No relation to : Green Alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens), [a plant with similar name along with dozens of other plants beginning with 'green'].
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Genista | tinctoria | ⇐ Global Aspect ⇒ | Fabaceae |
Genista (Greenweeds) |
Pea Family [Fabaceae] |