Hairy-fruited broom
Cytisus striatus
Family · Fabaceae · Irritating
Toxic
The green rods that turn yellow in May and give their name to the maias of northern village festivals. Spineless, unlike the gorse it shares the slope with.
Where it grows
Scrubland · Uplands · Roadsides and waste ground · Pine woods
Also known asPortuguese broom
In flower
How to tell it
Green upright rods, grooved lengthwise and nearly leafless. Yellow pea flowers, and pods covered in white hairs that crack open in the August sun.
What it is confused with
Gorse
Ulex europaeus
Run your hand over carefully: gorse pricks, broom does not. It is the quickest distinction in Portuguese scrub.
Open sheet →What it is for
Brooms, baskets and roof thatch throughout the mountains, and festival branches in May. It contains alkaloids that make it toxic to eat, which is rarely mentioned because the plant is so familiar.