White broom
Cytisus multiflorus
ShrubSecondary
Fast biomassNitrogen fixer
A fast nitrogen-fixing pioneer shrub that colonises poor, dry ground and feeds neighbouring plants while smothering weeds. Short-lived, flammable when dry, and its seeds are toxic if eaten.
Tolerances & traits
- Strata
- Shrub
- Lifecycle
- Secondary
- Soil preference
- Sandy, Rocky
- Soil pH range
- 4.5 – 7.5
- Min. temperature
- -15°C
- Min. rainfall
- 400 mm/year
- Wind tolerance
- Medium
- Frost tolerance
- Medium
- Growth rate
- Fast
- Irrigation needed
- Low
How to manage it
Fast nitrogen-fixing pioneer broom for poor, dry, acidic-to-neutral soils; chop-and-drop regularly to build organic matter and keep it from going leggy and woody.
Watch out for
Seeds and foliage contain toxic alkaloids (cytisine) - poisonous to livestock and humans if eaten; classed as invasive/weedy outside its native Iberian range; short-lived and highly flammable when dry.
Design your line to see how your land fits White broom.
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