Family: legumes (Fabaceae)
Flowering time: May–June
Size: 10–60 cm
Habitat: dry rocky places, meadows, forest edges and forests
German broom (Genista germanica) is a low shrub with upright shoots. The entire plant is long-bristly-haired. The woody older branches are not leafy, but are distinctly thorny – covered with hard and sharp thorns. The young herbaceous shoots, however, are thornless and densely leaved. Simple lanceolate leaves are 10 to 20 mm long and up to 8 mm wide. Bright yellow flowers form clustered inflorescences at the tips of the young shoots. The inflorescences are 3 to 5 cm long. From pollinated and fertilized flowers develops a pod up to 1 cm long – a pod, which is also densely bristly-haired. German broom is a common plant in Slovenia, growing on poor soils in moderately warm habitats.
We find it throughout Slovenia, most often in sunny places. It is a well-known nectar-producing plant that bees love to visit, as it blooms abundantly and yields nectar.
