Cytisus decumbens
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Cytisus decumbens' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Synonyms
- Spartium decumbens Durande
Other taxa in genus
- Cytisus albus
- Cytisus ardoinii
- Cytisus austriacus
- Cytisus battandieri
- Cytisus × beanii
- Cytisus × dallimorei
- Cytisus demissus
- Cytisus diffusus
- Cytisus emeriflorus
- Cytisus fontanesii
- Cytisus grandiflorus
- Cytisus hirsutus
- Cytisus ingramii
- Cytisus × kewensis
- Cytisus monspessulanus
- Cytisus multiflorus
- Cytisus nigricans
- Cytisus palmensis
- Cytisus × praecox
- Cytisus procumbens
- Cytisus proliferus
- Cytisus purgans
- Cytisus purpureus
- Cytisus racemosus
- Cytisus ratisbonensis
- Cytisus rochelii
- Cytisus scoparius
- Cytisus sessilifolius
- Cytisus × spachianus
- Cytisus supinus
- Cytisus supranubius
- Cytisus tommasinii
- Cytisus × versicolor
A prostrate shrub 4 to 6 in. high, with five-angled, sparsely hairy branches. Leaves simple, stalkless, 1⁄4 to 3⁄4 in. long, oblong or obovate, 1⁄8 to 1⁄6 in. wide; hairy, especially beneath. Flowers bright yellow, 1⁄2 to 5⁄8 in. long, produced singly, in pairs, or in threes from the joints of the preceding summer’s shoots; the flower-stalks are 1⁄3 to 1⁄2 in. long, and the calyx 1⁄6 in. long, both hairy. Pod 3⁄4 to 1 in. long, hairy, three- or four-seeded. Bot. Mag., t. 8230.
Native of S. Europe from France to Albania and Montenegro. This species is, perhaps, the most prostrate of all brooms in cultivation, lying as it does flat on the ground and only increasing in height by additional growths laid on the older ones. In May and June it is very gay with the bright but rich yellow flowers. It may be strongly recommended for the rock garden, especially for positions where it is in full sunlight. Said by Aiton to have been introduced in 1775, but now rare in gardens.