Lynchmere Common - Dwarf Gorse

Clearing scrub encroaching upon heathland is a continuous job. Heathland only stays as heathland if you keep removing invading plants and prevent nutrient levels growing in the soil so that the heathland plants are out-competed.

On a recent volunteer party we were clearing on Marley common, the northernmost piece of the Lynchmere commons owned by the society. Alongside the birch and pine saplings was quite a lot of gorse. It's an important habitat in its own right but when it grows too thick and high it can dominate and needs to be managed.


Clearing the scrub soon restored the open heath and will allow the heathland plants to flourish providing an habitat for a wide variety of wildlife.

Gorse, orginally known as Furze, or Whin was to be managed for its uses. Gorse is highly flammable and was much prized as a fuel, particularly before coal became widely available. The tops for bakers ovens and the stems for firing brick and tile kilns.

It's not hard to recognise Gorse, you can do it by feel alone, and it needs a thick pair of gloves to harvest it without feeling the spines.

Hard to believe it used to be used as the base layer of bedding! The amazing yellow flowers here were photographed in the Gower in April, they smell strongly of coconut and apparently make a good wine. Though I've not tried yet.

But there are actually 3 species of Gorse in the UK. Common Gorse is the one we normally see, but Western Gorse grows on heaths and coastal areas to the west and lastly there is Dwarf Gorse. As its name implies it grows to only about 3 feet and is less robust than its common relative. It favours the acid soils of heaths in the SE

Recognising Dwarf Gorse is not too hard and it comes with practice. The spines are shorter, about 1/2 inch (1cm) and its colour is a softer green than the Common Gorse.

The photograph shows dwarf and common gorse on Marley common. The dwarf gorse flowers are a deeper yellow and appear from July to September whereas Common Gorse flowers from February to May. The commonly held belief that Gorse flowers throughout the year is not true and may stem from seeing mixtures of Common, Western and Dwarf Gorse in some locations.