10. Gorse

How do you tell if it's Gorse or Broom? Easy answer... stick you face in it, if nothing happens its broom, if your pull your face out and you are covered in bloody scratches it was gorse.

                                                                            

     Ulex europaeus  Common Gorse    

                                

                                                                                                    Sytisus scoparius broom  

Both plants look very similar and are in the same family Faboideae which includes legumes such a gorse, Lupin, Broom and laburnum among others, I did not see broom on the UEA campus but that is more likely because I haven't come across it yet rather than it isn't there.

The rubbish photo on the left of the gorse on campus is mine, the lovely broom photo is a free online stock photo.

It isn't the only gorse around Norfolk, most links golf courses have gorse on them in abundance often Eastern or Dwarf Furze Gorse Ulex minor and Ulex europaeus, in the west of the country this turns into western gorse Ulex major, and quite often both europaeus and minor can be seen together such as on Mousehold Heath (Wildlife Trust 2020)

They grow well on sandy soils , grow as a pioneer shrubs on old dunes and like soils to be well drained.

One of the great advantages of this plants is its roots ability to endure intense heat and sucker up from beneath the ground after a fires sweeps through. As plants go, gorse is a pretty tough plant, up there with other impressive plants in the UK heavywieght divison of toughness like Holly, Goat Willow, Horsetail and Ragwort. 

Gorse can endure really dry summers, fire, being slashed back by hedge trimmers, whacked at with mattocks and browsed by most animals. 

It is a heathland hardnut, a dune conquerer,  a veritable bareknuckle fighter of plants, which for me personally makes it much more attractive than a cultivated rose or precious orchid. 

Then there is the unmistakable scent of it in flower, spring is best but it has a second weaker flourish of bloom in autumn, it smells strongly of a mix of butter buscuits and coconut. Bright mustard yellow and swarmed by bees and hover flies.

I realise many people don't like it, they think it ugly and with its thorns, no more than a giant weed, something to curse if you're trying to retrieve a golf ball from it in short sleeves.

I find it impressive, Gorse has a common poise and when in bloom...and smells heavenly.

I did eventually take a better picture, below;

Wildlife Trust (2020) Gorse. Available at: https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/wildlife-explorer/trees-and-shrubs/common-gorse (Accessed: 01/01/2020)