Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Genista

broom, Greenwood
Habit Shrubs [small trees], armed or unarmed, 1–6 m. Stems erect, branched from base, slender, striate, persistently greenish, sericeous to glabrescent.
Leaves

often caducous, alternate or opposite, unifoliolate or odd-pinnate;

stipules present [absent], inconspicuous, adnate to leaf bases;

sessile or petiolate;

leaflets 1 or 3, blade margins entire, surfaces glabrous or pubescent.
Inflorescences

1–20[–30]-flowered, terminal or axillary, clusters or racemes [panicles], or flowers solitary;

bracts present.
Flowers

papilionaceous;

calyx tubular-campanulate, bilabiate, abaxial lip 3-lobed, adaxial lip 2-lobed;

corolla yellow, petals clawed;

stamens 10, monadelphous;

anthers basifixed, dimorphic;

ovary sessile, style abruptly incurved distally, glabrous.
Fruits

legumes, stipitate, compressed, narrowly oblong [falcate-rhomboid and inflated], dehiscent, not constricted between seeds, usually pubescent, rarely glabrous.
Seeds

3–10, ovoid, cordate, ellipsoid, rhombic, or orbicular, strophiolate.
x

= 24.

Genista
Distribution
from USDA
w Europe; n Africa [Introduced in North America; introduced widely]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Species ca. 90 (5 in the flora).

A. Kleist et al. (2014) found evidence suggesting multiple horticultural introductions of Genista monspessulana (French broom) in California. They also indicated that inter-taxon hybridization may also be occurring among the Genista populations in the state, possibly contributing to the invasive success of the species.

A small population of Genista pilosa Linnaeus was recently found on Vancouver Island, British Columbia (F. Lomer 7732, UBC V236493, Sep. 7, 2011).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaflets 1.
G. tinctoria
1. Leaflets 3.
→ 2
2. Leaflet blades linear to narrowly elliptic, margins revolute.
G. linifolia
2. Leaflet blades elliptic to oblanceolate, obovate, or elliptic, margins entire, sometimes ciliolate.
→ 3
3. Leaflet blades 5–10 mm; banners with V-shaped patch of pubescence from base to apex; wings and keel longer than banner.
G. canariensis
3. Leaflet blades (5–)10–25 mm; banners glabrous; wings and keel slightly shorter than banner.
→ 4
4. Inflorescences terminal racemes; bracts 1–2.5 mm; seeds orbicular, 2.5–3 mm, olive to brownish or black, hilum red-orange.
G. maderensis
4. Inflorescences dense, axillary clusters on short shoots; bracts 2–3 mm; seeds ovoid, 1–1.3 mm, tan to dark brown, hilum greenish yellow.
G. monspessulana
Source FNA vol. 11. Author: Debra K. Trock.
Parent taxa Fabaceae > subfam. Faboideae
Subordinate taxa
G. canariensis, G. linifolia, G. maderensis, G. monspessulana, G. tinctoria
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 2: 709. (1753): Gen. Pl. ed. 5, 318. (1754)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers