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Portrait of Western gorse

Nature · Shrubs

Western gorse

Native · low evergreen spiny shrub · flowers Aug–Nov · heaths and sea-cliffs, west and north

Ulex gallii — Fabaceae

Western gorse is the low, compact gorse of western heaths and sea-cliffs, which flowers in late summer and autumn, long after common gorse has finished. The purple heather and the golden gorse flower together on the same heath in August, and it is that late-summer combination that marks this species. Together with dwarf gorse it means that some gorse can be found in flower in almost every month.

How to spot them

  • ▸Low, compact, densely spiny shrub, much smaller than common gorse, with stiff, grooved, spine-like shoots
  • ▸Golden-yellow pea flowers, 12 to 17 mm, in late summer and autumn, mostly August and September
  • ▸Calyx with only small, pressed-down hairs, and narrow bracteoles at the flower stalk
  • ▸Acid, infertile heaths, sea-cliffs, abandoned pastures and scrubby banks, mostly in the west and north
  • ▸Look-alikes: common gorse is tall (to 2.5 m), flowers in spring, and has a shaggy hairy calyx and wide bracteoles; dwarf gorse has lemon-yellow, smaller flowers and weaker spines

How to know it

A low spiny gorse that blooms golden on heaths in August and September, when purple heather is also in flower

Western gorse — Ulex gallii.

Its calyx has only small pressed-down hairs, unlike the shaggy calyx of the spring-flowering common species

Western gorse versus common gorse.

Its flowers are golden yellow and larger than those of dwarf gorse, which are lemon yellow

Western gorse.

Of the three British gorses, the two low ones flower from July to November, so gorse can be found in bloom in nearly every month

Western gorse and dwarf gorse.

A heathland shrub that also grows on sea-cliffs, native across the west and north and rarer in eastern England

Western gorse — Ulex gallii.

It is easily confused with a smaller relative, so botanists use mean calyx length over 10 mm to separate them

Western gorse versus dwarf gorse.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Ulex gallii, family Fabaceae; native to Britain and Ireland, Least Concern (BSBI)
  • •Grows on heathlands on infertile acidic soils, sea-cliffs, abandoned pastures and waste ground; mostly lowland (BSBI)
  • •Flowers July to November, peaking in August and September (BSBI plant crib)
  • •Common gorse (Ulex europaeus) has a 'furry' calyx with spreading hairs and bracteoles 2 to 4.2 mm wide; western and dwarf gorse have appressed hairs and bracteoles 0.5 to 1.3 mm (BSBI plant crib)
  • •Western gorse has golden-yellow petals (standard 12 to 17 mm) and a calyx usually over 10 mm; dwarf gorse has lemon-yellow petals and a calyx under 9 mm (BSBI plant crib)
  • •On rare plant registers in southern England (Wiltshire, Dorset, Sussex, Surrey) and Scotland, and has slightly contracted along England's eastern edge (BSBI)
  • •Often misrecorded for dwarf gorse in the past (BSBI)
  • •Common gorse is on the site as 'Gorse'

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