Plant · P-072

Gorse

Ulex europaeus

Gorse is a genuine nitrogen fixer with the strongest stated windbreak and hedge use in this group, plus edible flower buds and shoot-tip tea, but it needs neutral to slightly acid soil and dislikes alkaline ground, and its distribution depends on limited seasonal extremes with 500 to 1500 mm of rain - it cannot survive arid climates or regions with hot summers and cold winters in the same year. High oil content in its foliage and seed also makes it highly flammable; it destroyed the town of Bandon, Oregon in 1936.