Gorse Makes Forests
This spiky bush grows giant oaks
Walking on the moors this week, I spotted a new patch of gorse (ulex europaeus).
My first thought was “nooo, spikes!” Gorse has an incredible ability to puncture clothes and skin, seemingly even from a distance.
My second thought was “yesss, trees!” Gorse's other incredible ability is to nurture forests.
A couple of years back I watched the documentary “Fools & Dreamers, regenerating a native forest” on YouTube, which explains how gorse does this.
Grazing animals, like people, steer clear of this painful plant. As a result, tiny saplings thrive beneath it.
These saplings are able to grow even in shade of the gorse. But the reverse is not true: gorse requires 100% sunlight. As soon as the trees outgrow their prickly nanny, the gorse dies off and leaves behind a forest.
Gorse has a use! Who knew?
Here’s another use: you can make wine from gorse flowers. Be prepared to get torn to shreds picking them.
Or use the flowers of gorse’s close relative, broom. Did you know that, for hundreds of years, the British monarchy were named after the broom plant. When Henry II first came to England he wore a yellow flower of this plante genista and so gained the name “Plantagenet”.
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Dan 🗿 Peakrill Press 🍄 Mycoleum