Genista tridentata

Genista tridentata, also known as Pterospartum tridentatum and commonly called carqueja in Portuguese, is a small evergreen shrub in the family Fabaceae native to the western Iberian Peninsula and parts of Morocco. It grows 20 to 60 centimetres tall and is highly distinctive in appearance: instead of true leaves it bears flattened, winged green photosynthetic stems with three lobes or teeth at the joints, giving rise to the specific epithet tridentata. True leaves are reduced and inconspicuous. The plant forms a much-branched, cushion-like or low spreading bush that thrives on acid, nutrient-poor soils, heathlands, rocky slopes and open pine and oak woods. In spring and early summer small bright yellow pea-shaped flowers appear in short terminal racemes, followed by small flattened legumes containing a few seeds. The species is a characteristic component of Iberian heathlands and is often dominant after fire, regenerating both from seed and from root sprouts.