Cytisus scoparius

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Cytisus scoparius

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Cytisus
Species: C. scoparius
Binomial name
Cytisus scoparius
(L.) Link
Synonyms

Spartium scoparium L.
Genista scoparius L. (Lam.)
Sarothamnus scoparius L. (K.Koch).

Cytisus scoparius (Common Broom; syn. Sarothamnus scoparius) is a perennial, leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe from the Iberian Peninsula north to the British Isles and southern Scandinavia, and east to Poland and Romania,[1] where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils at low altitudes[2].

Contents

It typically grows to 1-3 m tall, rarely 4 m, with main stems up to 5 cm thick, rarely 10 cm. It has green shoots with small deciduous trifoliate leaves 5-15 mm long, and in spring and summer is covered in profuse golden yellow flowers 20-30 mm from top to bottom and 15-20 mm wide. Flowering occurs after 50-80 growing degree days. In late summer, its legumes (seed pods) mature black, 2-3 cm long, 8 mm broad and 2-3 mm thick; they burst open, often with an audible crack, spreading seed from the parent plant. It is the hardiest species of broom, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°C.[2][3][4]

There are two subspecies[1][2]:

  • Cytisus scoparius subsp. scoparius. Throughout the species' range.
  • Cytisus scoparius subsp. maritimus (Rouy) Heywood. Western Europe, on maritime cliffs. Differs in prostrate growth, not over 0.4 m tall, and downy young shoots.

In Britain and Ireland the standard name is Broom,[5][2][4] but this name is also used generically for other related species (see broom), and the term Common Broom is sometimes used for clarification[6][7]. In other English-speaking countries, the most prevalent common name is Scotch Broom [8]; English Broom is also occasionally used (see Scotch and England).

[edit] Cultivation and naturalisation

It is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, with several cultivars selected for variation in flower colour, including 'Moonlight' with deep yellow flowers, 'Andreanus' and 'Firefly' with dark orange-red flowers, and growth habit, including 'Pendula' with pendulous branchlets.[3]

It has been introduced into several other continents outside its native range and is classified as a noxious invasive species in California and the Pacific Northwest in North America, Australia and New Zealand. The prolific growth of this species after timber harvest inhibits reforestation by competing with seedling trees.[9] It is estimated that in Oregon it is responsible for USD$47 million in lost timber production each year in that state.[10] Some attempts have been made to develop biological controls in affected areas, using three broom-feeding insects, the psyllid Arytainilla spartiophylla, the beetle Bruchidius villosus, and the moth Leucoptera spartifoliella.[11]

In New Zealand broom is estimated to cost farmers NZD$10 million and the forestry industry NZD$90 million.[12] Biological control for broom has been investigated since the mid 1980s with a number of species being trialled. They include the broom twig miner (Leucoptera spartifoliella), the broom seed beetles (Bruchidius villosus) the broom gall mite (Aceria genistae) the sap-sucking broom psyllid (Arytainilla spartiophila) and recently the broom leaf beetle (Gonioctena olivacea) and the broom shoot moth (Agonopterix assimilella).[13]

[edit] Images

Close-up of flowers

Broom in Wellington, New Zealand where it is an invasive species.

Illustration of broom from Koehler's Medicinal Plants. (1887)

As an invasive species in the United States.

[edit] Royal connection

The surname of the House of Plantagenet, rulers of England in the Middle Ages, was derived from common broom, which was then known as "planta genista" in Latin.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Flora Europaea: Cytisus scoparius
  2. ^ a b c d Blamey, M. & Grey-Wilson, C. (1989). Flora of Britain and Northern Europe. Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0-340-40170-2.
  3. ^ a b Bean, W. J. (1970). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles. John Murray, London. ISBN 0-7195-1790-7
  4. ^ a b Vedel, H. & Lange, J. (1960). Trees and bushes. Metheun, London.
  5. ^ Botanical Society of the British Isles (zip file)
  6. ^ Wild Flowers of the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park, Scotland
  7. ^ Garden World: common broom
  8. ^ National Park Service: Scotch Broom
  9. ^ Invasive Plant Species Management Plan. McDonald-Dunn Forest Plan, Appendix 7. Oregon State University, College of Forestry. Retrieved on 2006-12-20.
  10. ^ Scotch broom. ODA Plant Division, Noxious Weed Control. Retrieved on 2006-09-03.
  11. ^ CSIRO: Biological control
  12. ^ Press release (2008-02-12). New bio-controls for pest plant. Landcare Research. Retrieved on 2008-03-02.
  13. ^ What's New In Biological Control of Weeds? (pdf). Landcare Research (November 2006). Retrieved on 2008-03-02.

[edit] External links

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