Ulex minor Roth
dwarf gorse
Shrub up to 1.5 m high; main stem often procumbent, somewhat branched; young twigs and spines dark green; hairs grey to brown; spines branched; terminal and lateral spines rather weak and often curved, somewhat furrowed or striate, 10-25 mm long; secondary spines subtending lateral up to 10 mm long. Fls solitary; bracteoles acute, c. 0.5 mm wide. Calyx greenish yellow, slightly < or = corolla, sparsely to moderately clothed in appressed hairs; calyx teeth divergent. Corolla clear yellow, 7-11 mm long; wings < keel. Pod villous, turning dark brown to black, 8-10 mm long; seeds smooth and rounded, brown to greenish brown, shiny, few per pod.
N.: established in the vicinity of Tauranga (Bay of Plenty) and possibly collected once from Whangarei.
W. Europe 1940
Scrubland, waste places.
FL Jun-Sep.
Allan (1940) recorded U. gallii Planch. as established near Tauranga, however all material collected from that area is referable to U. minor. Allan's (1940) record of hybrids between U. europaeus and U. gallii is unsubstantiated.
