Known in England as gorse or furze, Ulex europaeus (family Papilionaceae) is
known in Scotland as whin. The evergreen, much-branched bushes of common gorse which range from
60-180 cm (2-6 feet) in height
flower in March (or even earlier after a mild winter)and are one of the first British plants to do so
turning heaths and hillsides bright yellow until June
although the shrubs may carry some flowers almost throughout the year. the species is native to the
Atlantic margin of Europe but has been introduced introduced to and is spreading in many parts of the
world.
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On a visit to England in 1736, the Swedish botanist Linnaeus who gave us the modern binomial system by
which we name all plants and animals was so affected the the gorse blooming on Putney Heath that he
fell to his knees and thanked God for their beauty.
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Gorse grows on acid, sandy heaths and thrives on exposed
windy sites (it is often planted as a wind-break). It is often found on the sandy banks of road and
motorway verges and cuttings. The leaves are adapted to dry environments and
take the form of rigid furrowed spines bearing smaller spines often in threes although the seedlings are
soft and possess leaves. The seeds are enclosed
in flat, pea-like pods which become dark brown and split with a loud popping noise to release and
scatter the small black seeds.
Because gorse is adapted to life in comparatively dry places, it can tolerate the drying and salt-laden
winds which buffet coastal cliffs. In the pictures below, it is shown growing on the cliff-slopes of
Southbourne with the beach behind and in a dense thicket towards the top of the cliffs.
In Scotland the young gorse shoots were
crushed in whinmills and fed to cattle while the bark, known as whinbark, is still used in the
production of a yellow dye which is used in the manufacture of tartan cloth. In the New Forest in
Hampshire the young shoots are browsed by the New Forest Ponies.
Gorse has also been collected throughout its range as a fuel because it burns well - unfortunately
a property of the bush which causes serious problems as it causes
heath fires to spread very rapidly. beacause of its
spiney nature and resistance to winds it was often planted as a
hedge or windbreak around livestock, particularly in
Ireland.
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The Minutes of the Courts Leet from 1779 of Stoborough in Dorset record that;-
| No Tenant of this Manor ought to carry Furze or Turf from the waste ground of this Manor out of the said Manor under penalty of 20 shillings per load. |
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An old country saying claims that when the gorse is not in bloom, kissing is out of fashion.
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Common gorse (Ulex europaeus) flowers from March until June but there are two rarer species
(Ulex Minor &)
which ensure that gorse flowers somewhere almost throughout the year.
The sharp spiney foliage of gorse is favoured as a protection by small birds including the rare
Dartford Warbler.
Parasites
Gorse and heather, and many other plants, are often covered in the pink
thread-like stems of the plant parasite dodder which has no chlorophyl
and makes no food of its own but taps into its host for all of tis nutrition.
Horticulture
The brown seed pods of gorse should be collected late in the summer before they split and scatter the
seed. the seeds should be sown into individual pots as the seedlings do not like transplanting.
Protect the seedlings from frost.
The two British species of dwarf gorse which have segragated distributions meet in Dorset although
their ranges are quite distinct even within the county. Ulex minor, the gentler eastern
dwarf gorse may be found on the dry heaths from Cranborne to Christchurch in the east and from
Wareham to Dorchester in the west. Ulex gallii Planch., the more ferocious western dwarf gorse, is
found on the heaths in between - around Bournemouth and Poole.
U. galli Planch.
Ulex minor
- Dwarf Gorse
