Thursday, July 14, 2011

Broom Flowers

Broom flowers. Common broom (Cytisus scoparius, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius), a native of northwestern Europe, where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. Like most brooms, it has apparently leafless stems that in spring and summer are covered in profuse golden-yellow flowers. It makes a shrub about 1–3m tall, rarely to 4 m. It is also the hardiest broom, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°C.
Around here in North Fife on uncultivated lands loads of broom shrubs abound. A lovely sight and a powerful scent, when the flowers develop into pea-like seed pods and ripen an audible click sound is emitted propelling the seeds many metres.

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