Ulex (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are native to parts of western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.

Ulex europaeus, the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant native to Western Europe. [2] Growing to 4.5 metres (10 ft) tall, it is an evergreen shrub. [3] . The young stems are green, with the shoots and leaves modified into …

Ulex europaeus is the most widespread and familiar Ulex species, and has an interesting history of economic use. As a garden plant it rides a fine line between gloriously ornamental flowering shrub and prickly, invasive, somewhat frost-susceptible horror.

Introduced to the eastern U.S. as an ornamental and hedge plant in the early 1800s, common gorse established outside cultivation by 1900 [49, 50]. It now occurs along the Atlantic coast from Virginia to Massachusetts.

Ulex belongs to Tribe Genisteae within Subfamily Faboideae of the Fabaceae (Leguminosae), along with important garden genera such as Cytisus, Genista, Laburnum and Lupinus. It is easily distinguished from these by the spiny growth form and yellowish calyx.

U. europaeus is a woody, spiny shrub that normally grows to 2-2.5 m tall in its native range (Clapham et al., 1987), but up to 7 m tall where introduced such as in New Zealand (Lee et al., 1986). It normally grows erect with ascending stems. It is densely branched in the younger outer layers, but eventually bare at the base.

First published in Sp. Pl.: 241 (1753) The native range of this species is Madeira, W. & Central Europe, Algeria. It is a shrub and grows primarily in the temperate biome. It is has environmental uses, as animal food and a medicine and for fuel and food.

Densely branched shrub to 2 m tall, eventually becoming a tree to 7 m tall, with a well defined, bare trunk; twigs conspicuously sulcate, long pilose, the leaves and flowers borne on short shoots (phyllodes) to 5-10 cm long, each ending in a sturdy, sharp, spine, the tip sclerified.

Ulex minor was named scientifically and clearly described from the Paris area by Roth (1797). Loudon (1844) knew it as U. nanus and implied that it was in British cultivation, claiming that ‘Very neat low hedges and edgings may be formed of it.’

2024年10月13日 · Ulex europaeus has a wide natural distribution and is considered to be a native endemic to western Europe, primary in Atlantic coastal areas. There are no major known threats to the species and the population is believed to be stable. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2017) [