Cape Broom - a weed (*Genista monspessulana)

Other names: Montpellier Broom.

Native of the Mediterranean region.

Occurrence: A widespread and abundant weed. It readily and rapidly colonises cleared and partly cleared land.

Identification:

• it has clover-like (trifoliate) leaves
• the leaflets are about a centimetre long and are softly hairy
• it is a shrub growing to about 2 metres
• it has bright yellow pea flowers in spring.

Cape Broom is a proclaimed noxious weed and is listed Restricted in central Victoria.

It is a troublesome environmental weed. It produces an abundance of seed which may lie dormant for many years. In the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens, over 1000 seedlings have germinated in a square metre of ground after initial clearance of broom. Cape Broom and Flax-leaf Broom have small root systems and can readily be hand pulled when small.

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