Index / Search / Cytisus scoparius
§1 Plant
Cytisus scoparius (L.) Link
vernacular Scotch broom — species · Fabaceae
§2Habit & range
Habit and range
- Growth habit
- Shrub
- Duration
- Perennial
- Group
- Dicot
- Family
- Fabaceae Lindl.
- Genus
- Cytisus
§2a
Native status, by region
- AK Alaska Introduced
- CAN Canada Introduced
- HI Hawaii Introduced
- L48 Lower 48 States Introduced
§2b
County-level range
· 121 counties across 18 states/territories§3Cultivation specs · USDA
Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.
§3a
Tolerances
- Drought
- High
- Shade
- High
- Moisture use
- Low
- Fire
- High
- Salinity
- Low
- Anaerobic
- None
- CaCO₃
- Medium
- Hedging
- Low
§3b
Climate & soil
- Cold tolerance
- -13 °F minimum
- Frost-free days
- 150 min.
- Precipitation
- 30–60 in/yr
- pH range
- 5.5–7
- Root depth
- 16 in min.
- Fertility need
- Medium
- Soil texture
- coarse, medium, fine
§3c
Form & growth
- Growth form
- Multiple Stem
- Growth rate
- Rapid
- Lifespan
- Moderate
- Mature height
- 7 ft
- Height @ 20 y
- 7 ft
- Foliage texture
- Medium
- Foliage colour
- Green
- Porosity (summer)
- Dense
- Porosity (winter)
- Moderate
- Flower colour
- Yellow
- Fruit colour
- Black
- Fire resistant
- No
- N fixation
- High
- Toxicity
- None
§3d
Reproduction
- Bloom period
- Spring
- Seed abundance
- High
- Seed begins
- Spring
- Seed ends
- Summer
- Spread rate
- Rapid
- Stratify
- No
- Seeds / lb
- 57,000
- Propagation
- seed, bare root, container
§3e
Use & availability
- Commercial availability
- Routinely Available
- Nursery stock
- Yes
- Browse palatability
- Low
- Palatable, human
- No
- Protein potential
- Low
- Lumber
- No
- Christmas tree
- No
§4Counties, by state
Recorded in 121 counties across 18 states/territories.
Alaska view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Delaware view state ↗ 1 I ▾
District of Columbia view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Georgia view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Kentucky view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Maine view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Massachusetts view state ↗ 6 I ▾
Michigan view state ↗ 1 I ▾
Montana view state ↗ 1 I ▾
New Hampshire view state ↗ 1 I ▾
New Jersey view state ↗ 7 I ▾
New York view state ↗ 8 I ▾
North Carolina view state ↗ 9 I ▾
Pennsylvania view state ↗ 10 I ▾
South Carolina view state ↗ 4 I ▾
Tennessee view state ↗ 5 I ▾
Virginia view state ↗ 52 I ▾
- Accomack 51001
- Albemarle 51003
- Amelia 51007
- Amherst 51009
- Appomattox 51011
- Bedford 51019
- Buckingham 51029
- Campbell 51031
- Charles City 51036
- Charlotte 51037
- Chesapeake (city) 51550
- Chesterfield 51041
- Cumberland 51049
- Dinwiddie 51053
- Fairfax 51059
- Fauquier 51061
- Franklin 51067
- Gloucester 51073
- Greensville 51081
- Halifax 51083
- Hampton (city) 51650
- Hanover 51085
- Henrico 51087
- Henry 51089
- Isle of Wight 51093
- James City 51095
- Louisa 51109
- Lunenburg 51111
- Mathews 51115
- Mecklenburg 51117
- Middlesex 51119
- Nelson 51125
- New Kent 51127
- Newport News (city) 51700
- Northampton 51131
- Northumberland 51133
- Nottoway 51135
- Pittsylvania 51143
- Powhatan 51145
- Prince Edward 51147
- Prince George 51149
- Richmond 51159
- Rockbridge 51163
- Smyth 51173
- Southampton 51175
- Stafford 51179
- Suffolk (city) 51800
- Surry 51181
- Sussex 51183
- Warren 51187
- Washington 51191
- York 51199
West Virginia view state ↗ 6 I ▾
§5Sources & provenance
USDA PLANTS
Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.
plants.usda.gov/CYSC4 ↗GBIF Backbone
Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.
gbif.org/species/5354656 ↗Record version
Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:
usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26
fetched 2026-05-26T08:39:52Z