Gorse
\n\n| Gorse |
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\n |
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\n| Scientific classification |
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\n| \n\n | | Species |
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\n| \n*Ulex europaea - Common gorse\n*Ulex gallii - Western gorse\n*Ulex micranthus - \n*Ulex minor - Dwarf gorse\n*Ulex parviflorus - | \n \n |
Gorse (
Ulex) comprises a genus of about 20 species of
evergreen shrubs in the subfamily
Faboideae of the pea family
Fabaceae, native to western
Europe and northwest
Africa, with the majority of species in
Iberia. Other common names for "gorse" include
whin and
furze.
Gorse is closely related to the
brooms, and like them, has green stems and very small leaves, adaptations to dry growing conditions, but differs in its extreme spininess, with the leaves being modified into 1-4cm long spines. All the species have yellow flowers, some with a very long flowering season.
The most widely familiar species is the
Common gorse (
Ulex europaea), the only species native in of most of western
Europe, where it grows in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. It is also the largest species, reaching 2-3m height; this compares with typically 0.2-0.4m for
Western gorse (
U. gallii). This latter species is characteristic of highly exposed
Atlantic coastal
heathland, where a combination of wind strength and salt spray prevents larger plants from growing.
Common gorse flowers most strongly in spring, though it bears some flowers year round, hence the old country phrase: "When gorse is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion". The flowers have a very distinctive strong coconut scent. Western gorse and
Dwarf gorse differ in being almost entirely late summer flowering (August-September in
Britain), and also have somewhat darker yellow flowers than Common gorse.
Gorse is a fire-climax plant, very well adapted to stand-replacing fires, being highly inflammable, and having seed pods that are to a large extent opened by fire, thus allowing rapid regeneration after fire. The burnt stumps also readily sprout new growth from the roots. Where fire is excluded, gorse soon tends to be shaded out by taller-growing trees, unless other factors like exposure also apply. Typical fire recurrence periods in gorse stands are 5-20 years.
Gorse thrives best in poor growing areas and conditions; it has been widely used for land reclamation (e.g. mine tailings), where its nitrogen-fixing capacity helps other plants establish better.
It is a valuable plant for wildlife, providing dense thorny cover ideal for protecting bird nests; in
Britain and
France, it is particularly noted for supporting
European Stonechats and Dartford Warblers.
In many areas of
North America, southern
South America,
Australia and
New Zealand, the Common gorse, introduced as an ornamental plant, has become naturalised and an
invasive weed due to its aggressive seed dispersal; it has proved very difficult to eradicate.
