Species of Broom
The most widely familiar is common broom (Cytisus scoparius, syn. Sarothamnus scoparius), a native of northwestern Europe, where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. Like most brooms, it has apparently leafless stems that in spring and summer are covered in profuse golden-yellow flowers. In late summer, its peapod-like seed capsules burst open, often with an audible pop, spreading seed from the parent plant. It makes a shrub about 1–3m tall, rarely to 4 m. It is also the hardiest broom, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°C.
The largest species of broom is Mount Etna broom (Genista aetnensis), which can make a small tree to 10 m tall; by contrast, some other species, e.g. dyer's broom Genista tinctoria, are low sub-shrubs, barely woody at all.
Broom is used as a food source by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species – see list of Lepidoptera that feed on brooms.
Read more about this topic: Broom (shrub)
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