Common Name: chamaecytisus
Type: Deciduous shrub
Family: Fabaceae
Native Range: Central, southern, and southeastern Europe
Zone: 5 to 7
Height: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Spread: 1.00 to 2.00 feet
Bloom Time: May to June
Bloom Description: Yellow
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Medium
Maintenance: Low
Suggested Use: Naturalize
Flower: Showy
Fruit: Showy
Tolerate: Drought
Culture
Best in medium moisture, sandy or gravelly, well-drained loams in full sun. Tolerates light shade. Established plants have some drought tolerance. Prune as needed immediately after flowering to maintain good shape. May naturalize by self-seeding to form colonies. Under optimum growing conditions, this shrub can become somewhat weedy.
Noteworthy Characteristics
Chamaecytitus hirsutus (synonymous with and formerly called Cytisus hirsutus) is a deciduous shrub of the pea family that is native to slopes, steppes, wood margins and dry meadows in central, southern and southeastern Europe. Chamaecytitus means false Cytisus. This shrub typically grows in a loose form to 1-2' (less frequently to 3') tall, with trifoliate, deciduous, green leaves (ovate to elliptic leaflets to 3/4" long). Leaf undersides are covered with small silky hairs. Orange-yellow, pea-like flowers (to 1 1/2" long) bloom from the leaf axils in clusters of 2-4 in May-June. Flowers give way to flattened, rough-hairy seed pods (to 1 1/2" long) that ripen in late summer to early autumn. This small shrub is one of the brooms. It is often commonly called hairy broom because of the hairs present on plant surfaces such as the leaf undersides and seed pods.
Specific epithet also refers to the hirsute (hairy) character of the plant.
Problems
No known serious insect or disease problems. Leaf spot and blight may occur.
Uses
Borders. Wood margins. Naturalized areas.