Gorse

It is said that, somewhere in Britain, there will be at least one Gorse bush in flower every day of the year. Right now, the Gorse flowers are starting to bloom around these parts.

Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) is well known to most of us.  It is common throughout most of Europe and its extremely prickly nature makes it an invaluable part of the countryside, providing safe nesting places for a multitude of bird species.  Members of the Pea family (Fabaceae), their flowers have a distinctive smell of coconut.  Unfortunately this morning's cold weather prevented the natural oils in the flowers from releasing their scent, so as they say, "close, but no coconut!"

Following the rather wet weather of late, it was lovely to be out and about in the sunshine this morning and the Gorse flowers were just the icing on the cake.