Everything about Cytisus Scoparius totally explained
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, where it's found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils at low altitudes.
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.
There are two
subspecies. In other English-speaking countries, the most prevalent common name is
Scotch Broom ;
English Broom is also occasionally used (see
Scotch and
England).
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. It is estimated that in
Oregon it's responsible for USD$47 million in lost timber production each year in that state. 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.
In New Zealand broom is estimated to cost farmers NZD$10 million and the forestry industry NZD$90 million. 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).
Images
Image:Cytisus scoparius1.jpg|Close-up of flowers
Image:Broom flower.jpg|Broom in Wellington, New Zealand where it's an invasive species.
Image:Koeh-200.jpg|Illustration of broom from Koehler's Medicinal Plants. (1887)
Image:Scotch broom.jpg|As an invasive species in the United States.
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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Cytisus Scoparius'.
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