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Fabaceae FAMILY

Genista tinctoria

Genista tinctoria

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
3/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Shrub
GrowthMedium

Genista tinctoria is a very cold-tolerant plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -35°c when dormant[1]. Easily grown in a light well-drained soil in a sunny position[2, 3]. Prefers a rather dry soil, tolerating poor and sandy soils[4]. Prefers a lime-free soil[5]. Succeeds in acid or basic soils. Resents root disturbance and should only be transplanted whilst young[3, 6]. Whenever possible, genistas should be raised from seed, as plants so obtained are usually healthier and longer-lived than cuttings[3]. Plants do not usually resprout well if cut back into old wood, older plants can be best kept more compact by lightly cutting back the young growth after flowering. The taller species are all improved by shortening back several times in the young state in order to induce a bushy habit[3]. When cultivated as a dye plant, it is usually treated as a biennial for this purpose, the whole plant being harvested in the second year[7]. Plants do not require pruning, but they can be cut back as required once they have finished flowering in order to maintain shape[4]. Polymorphic, a number of named forms have been developed for their ornamental value[8]. A good bee plant[9]. Rabbits love eating this plant[6, PFAF]. Cows also eat the plant, but it taints their milk[10]. This species has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria, these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby[1].

Propagation

The seed requires a period of cold stratification and is best sown autumn in a cold frame. Pre-soak stored seed for 24 hours in warm water and sow late winter in a cold frame. Good germination[11]. When they are large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and plant them out in the summer. Cuttings of almost ripe wood, taken in mid to late summer, placed in very sandy soil in a frame. Roots are usually produced in the spring[3]. Cuttings of ripe wood, 5 - 10 cm with a heel, early autumn in a frame. Good percentage. Plant out the following autumn[11]. Cite as: Temperate Plants Database, Ken Fern. temperate.theferns.info. 2026-02-21. <temperate.theferns.info/plant/Genista+tinctoria>

Pollinators

Bees, Self

References

  1. [1]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  2. [2]RHS Dictionary of Plants plus Supplement. 1956 — F. Chittendon. · Oxford University Press · 1951 · ISBN - ↩︎Comprehensive listing of species and how to grow them. Somewhat outdated, it has been replaced in 1992 by a new dictionary (see [ 200 ]).
  3. [3]Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. — Bean. W. · Murray · 1981 · ISBN - ↩︎A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.
  4. [4]Encyclopaedia of Herbs and their Uses. — Bown. D. · Dorling Kindersley, London. · 1995 · ISBN 0-7513-020-31 ↩︎A very well presented and informative book on herbs from around the globe. Plenty in it for both the casual reader and the serious student. Just one main quibble is the silly way of having two separate entries for each plant.
  5. [5]Herbs — Phillips. R. & Foy. N. · Pan Books Ltd. London. · 1990 · ISBN 0-330-30725-8 ↩︎Deals with all types of herbs including medicinal, culinary, scented and dye plants. Excellent photographs with quite good information on each plant.
  6. [6]A Weavers Garden — Buchanan. R. · McGraw-Hill Contemporary · 1987 · ISBN 0934026289 ↩︎Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.
  7. [7]Alternative Enterprises for Agriculture in the UK. — Carruthers. S. P. (Editor) · Centre for Agricultural Strategy, Univ. of Reading · 1986 · ISBN 0704909820 ↩︎Some suggested alternative commercial crops for Britain. Readable. Produced by a University study group.
  8. [8]Ornamental Shrubs, Climbers and Bamboos. — Thomas. G. S. · Murray · 1992 · ISBN 0-7195-5043-2 ↩︎Contains a wide range of plants with a brief description, mainly of their ornamental value but also usually of cultivation details and varieties.
  9. [9]Companion Planting for Successful Gardening. — Riotte. L. · Garden Way, Vermont, USA. · 1978 · ISBN 0-88266-064-0 ↩︎Fairly good.
  10. [10]A Modern Herbal. — Grieve. · Penguin · 1984 · ISBN 0-14-046-440-9 ↩︎Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.
  11. [11]Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. — Sheat. W. G. · MacMillan and Co · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎A bit dated but a good book on propagation techniques with specific details for a wide range of plants.
  12. [12]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  13. [13]Plants for Human Consumption. — Kunkel. G. · Koeltz Scientific Books · 1984 · ISBN 3874292169 ↩︎An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of Latin names with a brief list of edible parts.
  14. [14]Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications · 1990 · ISBN 0-9628087-0-9 ↩︎Excellent. Contains a very wide range of conventional and unconventional food plants (including tropical) and where they can be obtained (mainly N. American nurseries but also research institutes and a lot of other nurseries from around the world.
  15. [15]Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. — Hedrick. U. P. · Dover Publications · 1972 · ISBN 0-486-20459-6 ↩︎Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references.
  16. [16]Tanaka's Cyclopedia of Edible Plants of the World. — Tanaka. T. & Nakao S. · Keigaku Publishing; Tokyo · 1976 · ISBN - ↩︎The most comprehensive list of edible plants I've come across. Only the briefest entry for each species, though, and some of the entries are more than a little dubious. Not for the casual reader.
  17. [17]Edible and Medicinal Plants. — Launert. E. · Hamlyn · 1981 · ISBN 0-600-37216-2 ↩︎Covers plants in Europe. a drawing of each plant, quite a bit of interesting information.
  18. [18]The Herb Book. — Lust. J. · Bantam books · 1983 · ISBN 0-553-23827-2 ↩︎Lots of information tightly crammed into a fairly small book.
  19. [19]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  20. [20]Plants for Man. — Schery. R. W. ↩︎Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
  21. [21]From Agar to Zenery. — Freethy. R. · The Crowood Press · 1985 · ISBN 0-946284-51-2 ↩︎Very readable, giving details on plant uses based on the authors own experiences.
  22. [PFAF]Plants for a Future — pfaf.org ↩︎