Species of flowering plant in the pea and bean family Fabaceae
Ulex gallii
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Plantae
Clade:
Tracheophytes
Clade:
Angiosperms
Clade:
Eudicots
Clade:
Rosids
Order:
Fabales
Family:
Fabaceae
Subfamily:
Faboideae
Genus:
Ulex
Species:
U. gallii
Binomial name
Ulex gallii
Planch.
Ulex gallii, the western gorse or dwarf furze[2] is an evergreen shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the Atlantic coasts of western Europe: southern Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, the Isle of Man, western France and the northern coast of Spain.
Ulex gallii growing on the flanks of Snowdon
It favours acidic heathy soils and is frequently found in exposed maritime and montane environments. It is more common in the west of its distribution; in eastern England it is replaced in similar habitats by the closely related Dwarf Furze (Ulex minor), with very little overlap in the distribution of the two species.
Ulex gallii is usually 10 to 50 centimetres (4 to 20 in) tall although it may grow up to 2 metres (7 ft). The stems are modified into spines, mostly about 1 centimetre (0.4 in) long, but with some regularly spaced recurved spines of about 3 centimetres (1 in). Like other members of the genus Ulex it has trifoliate leaves as a seedling, but later the leaves are reduced to small scales or spines. The stems are green, and almost wholly replace the leaves as the plant's functioning photosynthetic organs.
The flowers are yellow, 1 to 2 centimetres (0.4 to 0.8 in) long, with the typical pea-flower structure; they are produced principally in the late summer and autumn, rarely before July. The fruit is a legume (pod), partly enclosed by the pale brown remnants of the flower.
Like many species of gorse, it can grow as a fire-climax plant, which readily catches fire but re-grows from the roots after the fire; the seeds are also adapted to germinate after slight scorching by fire.
^Rivers, M.C. (2017). "Ulex Ulex_gallii". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T83827840A86136471. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T83827840A86136471.en. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
^A R Clapham, T G Tutin, E F Warburg, Flora of the British Isles, Cambridge, 1962, p. 332
Ulexgallii, the western gorse or dwarf furze is an evergreen shrub in the pea family (Fabaceae), native to the Atlantic coasts of western Europe: southern...
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heathland featuring a reduced variety of plants such as western gorse (Ulexgallii), heather, fungi — including some fly agaric — and many lichens. The...
there can be found dyer’s greenweed (Genista tinctoria), western gorse (Ulexgallii), heather (Calluna vulgaris) and bracken (Pteridium aquilinum). The cliffs...
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