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.