Genista villarsii
Credits
Article from Bean's Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles
Recommended citation
'Genista villarsii' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
Genus
Synonyms
- G. humifusa Vill., not L.
- G. pulchella Gren. & Godr., not Vis.
Other taxa in genus
- Genista aetnensis
- Genista anglica
- Genista cinerea
- Genista delphinensis
- Genista ephedroides
- Genista falcata
- Genista florida
- Genista germanica
- Genista hispanica
- Genista horrida
- Genista januensis
- Genista lobelii
- Genista lydia
- Genista monosperma
- Genista nyssana
- Genista pilosa
- Genista 'Porlock'
- Genista radiata
- Genista sagittalis
- Genista scorpius
- Genista sericea
- Genista sphaerocarpa
- Genista sylvestris
- Genista tenera
- Genista tinctoria
In the wild this is often found in arid mountainous places and is there a pigmy bush a few inches high, consisting of a thick, short main-stem and a gnarled, twisted mass of short twigs. In places more favourable to its growth it will make shoots 1 to 3 in. long in a season, but it is always dwarf; young shoots grey, downy, grooved. Leaves linear, hairy on both surfaces, 1⁄4 in. or so long. Flowers yellow, solitary in the terminal leaf-axils of the shoot, 1⁄3 in. long, of the usual broom-flower shape; calyx very hairy, with triangular pointed lobes; petals hairy. Pods 1⁄2 in. long, very hairy.
Native of S.E. France. This is another of the dwarf alpine brooms very suitable for growing on a sunny shelf in the rock garden. It is perfectly hardy at Kew. In its frequently starved, wild condition, the twigs occasionally become rather spine-tipped, but this tendency disappears under the softer conditions of cultivation. Flowers in May.