Common gorse
An thorny evergreen shrub that grows in dunes. This shrub is completely covered with thorns,
making it impenetrable. The shrub will sometimes
flower during wintertime, an unique quality.
Its is mostly used as an ornamental shrub but
also as an hedgerow.
The Gorse will thrive on dry, poor and acid soil,
but will grow on every soil.
The gorse has long thorns and the leaves are also pointed.
Flowering of the Common gorse
The Common gorse flowers during the summer months ,
producing an abundant amount of gold-yellow flowers,
attracting a lot of bees.
This is the flowering during wintertime.
The flowering buds during a frost period.
gorse during the winter
The gorse is not very winter-hardy, and because of the
frost-tenderness of the above-ground parts, there
can be much damage during a cold winter.
But during a mild winter it can happen that the
gorse flowers in the middle of this season. This
makes them easy to find, as flowering in the middle
of the winter is very rare in nature.
The shrub will regenerate during the spring and
will form new branches. lectin from the gorse
A lectin from Ulex europaeus is used to identify the H blood group antigen.
It is produced by extracting Gorsewood. A Lectin is a proteine,
tha binds carbohydrates. gorse control in the USA
Gorse wil grow on very polluted and poor grounds.
It spread uncontrolled after being introduced in the south of the USA.
It can be found on dry polluted grounds as near roads.
The spread has been controlled by trying to burn down.
But although gorse burns easely , it will easely make new sprouts after only one month.
the subfamily of Faboideae
Made by Anne Pratt, circa 1886.
1 Common Gorse, Furze, Whin or Ulex Europeana
2 Western Gorse or Dwarf Furze or Ulex gallii,
3 Dyers broom or Genista tinctoria
4 Hairy Greenweed or Genista pilosa
5 petty whin, needle furze, needle whin or Genista anglica
6 Common broom or Cytisus scoparius, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius
7 Common restharrow or Ononis repens subsp. repens
8 Spiny restharrow or Ononis repens subsp. spinosa of Ononis spinosa
9 Common kidneyvetch, kidney vetch, woundwort or Anthyllis vulneraria