I thought I’d write about something a little more appealing than an earthworm or a tiny thing that lives in a bramble leaf (they may be unappealing but I like the small and/or unpopular stuff), so I’ve decided on a plant today, maybe a bird tomorrow and save some more obscure things for later next week.
What: Gorse Ulex europaeus L.
When: 25th January 2020
Where: Jackson’s Brickworks Nature Reserve, Cheshire (VC58), UK
Who saw it? Me
How did I record it? I haven’t yet although I did record gorse from my New Year’s plant hunt from the same site on 2nd January.
Is it bigger than a blackbird? Yes, it’s a bushy shrub.
What is it? An evergreen spiny shrub which seems to live just about everywhere; particularly in areas of scrub. The plant is seemingly perpetually in flower, even in the darkest winter months, leading to the phrase “if the gorse is out of bloom, than kissing is out of fashion.” Obviously kissing is always in fashion (apart from when you’re me!) so gorse is always in flower. Why a plant spends its energy to be flowering when there’s no hope of pollination is anyone’s guess. Maybe they take advantage of brief mild periods in winter when a bee may temporarily emerge from hibernation and give them a source of nectar (and pollen)?
A fact about this species I have learned: Apparently, according to Maybe (1996 – Flora Britannica) the reason gorse is alwys in flower is that most large patches are a mixture of Common Gorse Ulex europaeus and Western Gorse U. gallii which flower at different times of the year, the former flowering between January to June and the latter from July to November.
Is it charismatic in my opinion? Yes, of gorse it is (sorry…). It has a lot of folklore attached to it (according to my book) and has been used as a good source of firewood in the past. They are useful in encouraging early season pollinators; I saw my first bumblebee of 2019 on gorse last February. And you try falling into a gorse patch like I did on the Isles of Scilly a few years ago, not an experience you want to repeat, the spines get everywhere!
A Species a Day 