Photographs: Ballingeary, Co. Cork

Western Gorse / Autumn Gorse Ulex gallii Aiteann gaelach Family: Fabaceae Flowering time: July-September. Evergreen shrub. Native. Golden-yellow flowers in lateral clusters. A densely spiny, low spreading shrub, the spines less deeply grooved than those of Gorse, Ulex europaeus. Young plants have leaves with three leaflets (ternate). Height to 1.5m. On infertile acidic heaths, upland grasslands, sea cliffs and waste ground. It is often grazed by sheep into neat, rounded shapes. Mainly found in the south, south-west and north-east of Ireland. Similar: Dwarf Gorse, U. minor. Introduced.

Western Gorse, Ulex gallii, Aiteann gaelach