British Native Trees
and Shrubs

Gorse Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae)

It is good to be out on the road, and going one knows not where,
Going through meadow and village, one knows not whither or why;
Through the grey light drift of the dust, in the keen cool rush of the air,
Under the flying white clouds, and the broad blue lift of the sky;
And to halt at the chattering brook, in the tall green fern at the brink
Where the harebell grows, and the gorse, and the fox-gloves purple and white …

Tewkesbury Road
John Masefield

Gorse is a breathtaking blaze of brilliant yellow in spring when this densely prickly dark-green shrub is smothered with coconut-scented flowers. Upright or bushy and rounded, it grows up to 2.5 m in height with an intricate arrangement of numerous, strong, deeply-grooved spines and small, stiff leaves which are in groups of three in young plants and reduced to scales or weak spines on older shrubs. Abundant deep yellow pea-flowers, up to 1.8 cm long, appear singly or in small clusters from March to June, although in mild conditions gorse can bloom throughout the year. Popping sounds can be heard from the bush on warm summer days when the hairy, blackish-brown, 1.5 cm-long seed pods burst open to eject the shiny seeds up to 6 m away.

Gorse grows in rough grassland, heaths, open woods and dunes, often on sandy or peaty soils throughout England, ascending to 500m in the Pennines.

It is an impressive, hardy and trouble-free shrub for the larger garden which can be planted in the shrub border or used as a thick, intruder-proof hedge. It is useful for coastal gardens and in exposed sites. It likes full sun and will grow in most well-drained soils, tolerating even the poorest and driest but with a preference for the acid to neutral. Gorse is wind-resistant but may be damaged by frost, although it will regenerate. Since it is most attractive when young and does not respond well to pruning, it is best replaced when stems begin to die back. It is easily raised from seed sown in a cold frame soon after ripening, preferably two or three in a pot, selecting the strongest seedling to be planted out the following autumn. Semi-ripe cuttings with a heel can be taken in summer and planted out the following autumn or spring.

A yellow dye is obtained from the bark, flowers and young shoots.

The rich-scented flowers attract honey-bees and bumble- bees to the pollen, and the thorns are food for caterpillars of the green hairstreak butterfly. The dense growth is excellent cover for small birds and the prickles protect nest sites.

Page last updated - January 10, 2002  

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