''Genista linifolia'' is a species of
broom
A broom (also known in some forms as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. I ...
known by the common names Mediterranean broom,
needle-leaved broom
and flax broom. It is native to southwestern Europe, North Africa, and the
Canary Islands.
Description
This is a
shrub with hairy green stems and branches which can exceed two meters in height. Its leaves are made up of tough, green, lance-shaped leaflets with woolly undersides. Flowers appear in dense raceme
inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
s toward the ends of the branches. The flowers are bright yellow and pealike. The fruit is a hairy legume pod one to four centimeters long containing several seeds.
Invasive plant species
It can be found on other continents in areas of similar
Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
, such as
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. It has become an
invasive species in those regions.
References
External links
*
Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery
linifolia
Flora of the Canary Islands
Flora of North Africa
Flora of Spain
Matorral shrubland
Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus
{{Faboideae-stub