French Broom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||
| Genista monspessulana (L.) O.Bolós & Vigo |
French Broom (Genista monspessulana, syn. Cytisus monspessulanus or Teline monspessulana), also known as Cape Broom and Montpellier Broom, is a perennial, woody leguminous shrub native to the Mediterranean region.
French Broom grows to 1-2.5 m tall, with slender green branches. The leaves are evergreen, trifoliate with three narrow obovate leaflets, 1-2 cm long. The flowers are yellow, grouped 3-9 together in short racemes. Like other legumes, it develops its seeds within a pod. The pods are 2-3 cm long, tough and hard, and are transported easily by flowing water and animals. They burst open with force, dispersing the seeds several metres. The plant begins seed production once it reaches a height of approximately 40 cm, and each plant can live for 10-20 years. One mature plant can produce 10,000 seeds per season. The generous seed production and the plant's ability to re-sprout after cutting or burning help it to invade new habitat vigorously when introduced.
It is related to the Common Broom and Spanish Broom. This suite of plants is common in European shrublands, and when introduced to a new area can become invasive species. French Broom is distributed throughout Mediterranean Europe and northwest Africa, and, due to its lower tolerance for frost than other broom species, is common in warmer, lower elevation areas. It is found on coastal strips and in sunny inland areas, and does best with plentiful rainfall and sandy soils. Its reproductive vigour and preference for Mediterranean climates make it a very successful species in California, where it is considered a severe noxious weed, covering over 40,000 hectares. It is also found in the Pacific Northwest. The plant competes with native vegetation and usually wins, forming dense fields where other species are almost completely crowded out. The stands of French broom are so thick that they make meadows and pastures useless for wild and domestic animals. Other harmful effects include its ability to shade out tree seedlings in reforested areas, its tendency to catch fire, and the toxicity of its leaves and seeds, which contain alkaloids poisonous to many large domestic animals.
