Stats

Lifespan: 15-25 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Mediterranean shrubland
Range: Mediterranean Basin
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Toxins
Status: Common

About

Spanish Broom is a Mediterranean shrub with nearly leafless, rush-like green stems that photosynthesize year-round, topped with brilliant golden-yellow, sweetly fragrant pea-flowers in spring and early summer. Though prized ornamentally, it is listed as an invasive weed in California, where its seeds can remain viable in soil for decades.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Genus: Spartium
Species: Spartium junceum