Brooms, wild plants found in the Mediterranean whose numerous types are difficult to tell apart. They tend to be shrubs of the maquis, covered with yellow or white, pea-shaped flowers. The leaves are often divided into three leaflets. Cytisus is thornless. Others are extremely spiny eg. Calicotome which develops into scrub even goats find impenetrable. Spanish Broom (Spartium junceum) is easily recognised by its yellow flowers and long, smooth and distinctly rush-like branches, used for basket-making.

Bibliography

Trees and shrubs of the Mediterranean by Helge Vedel, translated from the Danish by Aubrey Rush (Penguin Guides, 1978), p.65.