Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-950
Dyers Broom
Genista tinctoria
Dyer's broom is a low sun-loving nitrogen-fixing shrub grown historically for the bright yellow dye extracted from its flowers and young shoots - a dye that turns green when combined with woad. It thrives in full sun on poor sandy or rocky well-drained soil and does not transplant well once established. Its seeds have been used as a coffee substitute and its flower buds pickled as a caper substitute; its main value has always been as a dye plant rather than a food crop.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–7
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 6–8
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 24–36 in
- Mature spread
- 2–3.3 ft
- Plant spacing
- 12–36 in
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Agarita
Alloberberis trifoliolata
Agarita is a dense, spiny-leaved evergreen shrub of rocky limestone hills, slopes and thickets from south Texas through the Trans-Pecos to…
Shrub · USDA 7–9
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Black Currant
Ribes americanum
American black currant is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to the cooler parts of eastern and central North America, from Alberta to…
Shrub · USDA 3–7
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
American Plum
Prunus americana
American Plum forms dense thorny thickets by suckering from its own roots, spreading itself into a hedge across most of temperate North…
Shrub · USDA 3–8
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference