Genista monspessulana

French broom

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

French broom is a naturalized shrub found in coastal and interior regions of California, including the North Coast, Klamath Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, southern California islands, and San Diego County in disturbed places at elevations below 900 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces bright yellow flowers in dense, short racemes with 4 to 10 blossoms. Growing as a shrub up to 3 meters tall with silvery-silky hairy twigs, particularly when young, it forms a dense, multi-branched structure. Its leaves are composed of 10 to 15 millimeter oblanceolate to widely obovate leaflets, typically with appressed or spreading hairs on the lower surface. The fruit is a 15 to 25 millimeter pod densely covered in silky hairs, which contributes to its distinctive appearance.

Habitat: Common. Disturbed places

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 900 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRO, NCoRI, CaRF, s CaRH, n SN, CCo, SnFrB, SCoRO, SCo, s ChI, WTR, PR (San Diego Co.)

California counties: San Luis Obispo, Sonoma, Humboldt, Solano, Placer, San Diego, Butte, Shasta, Marin, Santa Cruz, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Mateo, Monterey, El Dorado, Amador, Contra Costa, Alameda, Santa Barbara, Napa, Lake, Kern, Calaveras, Mendocino, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Plumas, Madera, Del Norte, Riverside, Tuolumne, Yuba

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.