Genista umbellata

Genista umbellata is a low evergreen shrub in the legume family Fabaceae growing up to about 1.5 m tall and much-branched from the base. The slender green stems carry 10–14 T-shaped longitudinal ribs and remain photosynthetic year-round, an adaptation common in dry-climate brooms. Lower leaves are trifoliolate with small narrow leaflets, while the upper leaves are reduced to a single leaflet. In spring, terminal cymose clusters of 5–30 bright yellow pea-flowers 9–14 mm long are produced, followed by oblong, flattened pods 8–24 mm long containing two to four seeds. The species is native to the western Mediterranean basin, occurring in southern and southeastern Spain, Algeria and Morocco, where it grows on marly or schistose slopes and thickets on calcareous, stony hills. Like other brooms it is sometimes cultivated for ornament. Genista plants historically gave their name to the Plantagenet dynasty, whose members wore the broom as a badge.