Genista germanica

Genista germanica from Thomes "Flora of Germany, Austria and Switzerland "

The German broom ( Genista germanica ) is a flowering plant in the legume family ( Fabaceae ).

Features

The German broom is a perennial (half) shrub which grows to a height of 20 to 60 cm. The stems are erect to ascending. Young twigs are green, densely hairy and thornless. Older branches are brown, bare and carry up to 2.5 cm long, green thorns, which are branched in the lower stem area. The shoots contain tannins and, like the dyer's broom, a yellow dye. The leaves are almost sessile, entire, 10-20 mm long, 4-8 mm wide, narrow - ovate to lanceolate. They are grass green above, hairy, upper side glabrous. The leaf margin is entire, and occupied with spreading hairs.

Flowering period: May to August. The flowers are golden, 8 to 12 mm in diameter. They are arranged in terminal, three to five cm long racemes. The flower stems are hairy stand-off. The bracts are narrow and half as long as the pedicels. The sleeves are black brown, 8-15 mm long, 3-5 mm wide, densely hairy and contain 2 to 5 brown, lens-shaped seeds.

The whole plant is poisonous by Chinolizidinalkaloide, especially the seeds, which contain as the flowers in a total alkaloid content of up to 0.25 % of a cytisine. The herb contains a v. sparteine ​​.

Dissemination

The area ranges in the south to south-west France, Central Italy and Bulgaria in the north to southern Sweden, in the east to Western Russia. In the actual Mediterranean territory of the German broom is missing. He is regarded in Austria as regionally endangered ( western Alps, in the northern foothills of the Alps and the Pannonian region in Vorarlberg he is missing). In Germany he is threatened in Mecklenburg -Western Pomerania, Schleswig -Holstein and Lower Saxony extinction, endangered in several other states or at high risk.

Location

The type is a pointer acid and avoids limestone areas. It often grows on dry sandy soils, especially Gentiles, clear ( oak ) forests and dry meadows. It occurs in the colline and montane zone, south of the Alps it rises to 2300 m above sea level, north of it only to 800 m. Phytosociological it is a Assoziationscharakterart of Genisto Germanicae - Callunetum.