The Probert Encyclopaedia of Nature

ULEX

Ulex is a small genus of hardy, spiny spring shrubs belonging to the family Leguminosae. They are natives of western Europe and north-west Africa and bear yellow flowers either solitary or showily racemose. As seedlings they have a few normal leaves divided into three leaflets; but later leaves are all metamorphosed into needle-pointed spines. The larger spines are abortive shoots, as is shown by many of them bearing flowers. A common British variety is the Gorse.
Research Ulex