Ulex europaeus Seeds | Gorse
LATIN NAME: Ulex europaeus
COMMON NAME: Gorse
Plant Profile
Ulex europaeus is a spiny evergreen shrub that flowers almost all year, and it is both a useful plant and one of the worst weeds in the world. The stems are green and carry sharp spines instead of leaves, and the flowers are bright yellow and smell of coconut and of vanilla. It grows to two metres, forming dense, impenetrable thickets.
The species is native to the western coasts of Europe, from Britain to Portugal, and it has been introduced to North America, to Australia, to New Zealand and to Chile, where it has become a serious invasive plant. It colonises acid, poor ground, and it is one of the first shrubs to establish after fire, since the seed is stimulated by heat and survives in the soil for decades.
Science & Biotechnology
The plant is a legume and fixes nitrogen, which is why it can grow on bare, acid soil and why it changes the soil beneath it. The spines are modified branches, and the true leaves are small and fall early. The flowers are pollinated by bees, and the seed is ejected explosively from the pod, landing several metres from the parent.
The seed bank is the key to its success. A mature bush produces thousands of seeds a year, and they remain viable in the soil for thirty years or more. Fire, cutting and cultivation all trigger germination, so a control programme that disturbs the ground without removing the seed bank will simply produce a denser stand. Biological control with the gorse seed weevil and the gorse spider mite has been used in New Zealand and in Hawaii with partial success.
Uses & Benefits
The plant was used for fuel, for hedging, for fodder and for dye, and the flowers were used to flavour wine and to make a yellow dye. The wood is hard and burns hot, and it was used for bread ovens. In Brittany and in Ireland the shrub was cut and crushed as fodder for cattle and horses.
In folk medicine the flowers were used for jaundice and for kidney complaints, and the seed was used as a purgative. The plant is also grown in gardens as a flowering shrub and as a hedge, and it is used for land reclamation on acid, poor soils.
Growing from Seed
Seed needs scarification: pour hot water over it, leave it overnight, and sow at 15 to 20 degrees. Germination is in two to four weeks. Cuttings of half-ripe wood in summer also root, which is the way to keep a compact form.
The plant wants full sun, acid soil and no feeding, and it tolerates salt wind, drought and poor ground. It is hardy to about minus fifteen. It is a serious weed outside its range, so do not plant it where it can spread into bushland or into pasture, and check local regulations before growing it.
Our Take
A beautiful, useful, dangerous shrub: a year-round bee plant and hedge, and one of the worst invasive species in the southern hemisphere.
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