Genista florida

Genista florida is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub of the Fabaceae family, endemic to the Iberian Peninsula and adjacent western Mediterranean regions where it inhabits open woodlands, scrublands, and rocky slopes on siliceous soils from 500 to 1800 m elevation. The shrub reaches 1-3 m in height, with erect, much-branched, angled green stems that remain photosynthetic and give the plant a broom-like appearance year-round. The leaves are small, simple, lanceolate to oblong, 5-15 mm long, sessile or short-petiolate, often densely silky-pubescent beneath and quickly deciduous in summer drought. In late spring and early summer the shrub produces showy terminal racemes of bright yellow, pea-like flowers about 10-12 mm long, with a glabrous to slightly pubescent calyx. Fruits are oblong, flattened legumes 2-3 cm long, pubescent, dehiscing to release several small, hard seeds. Like most Genista species, all plant parts contain toxic quinolizidine alkaloids including cytisine.