Quick tells between the four species:
Flowers 1 or 2, coming from leaf axils = Cytisus spp.
Some notes about the above:
2 other species worth mentioning here are Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and sweet broom (an ornamental plant I've seen misidentified as French broom; I'm not sure if it's the same as the sweet broom here on iNaturalist (Genista stenopetala) because there are so many synonyms, especially in the nursery trade. I believe the ornamental here is supposed to be sterile and it sure doesn't seem to be invading like it is in NZ....but I still don't trust it).
I want this to be accessible and helpful to everybody, so if anything is unclear please let me know or ask for clarification so I can change it! I intend to get an observation of each species showing all these characteristics to accompany this post too, for all my fellow visual learners.
For more information (like IDing from seed pods – much easier than it might sound!) I highly recommend the UC IPM page on brooms
Note the flowers single (potentially paired) coming from leaf axils; young stems ±round (8-10 angled) and striated; seed pods inflated, hairy all over
Note the flowers in ±dense clusters of 4-10, on short side-shoots
Note flowers single (potentially paired) from leaf axils; young stems 5-angled (older, woodier stems ±round); seed pod flat, hairy only on the margins
Note the cylindrical stems, simple leaves (ie, not 3 leaves, like Genista and Cytisus spp.), and flowers in long spikes at the end of stems
Comments
Very good journal entry, Jacob! Thanks for putting this together!
Very helpful. Trying to separate G. monspessulana and G. stenopetala. If you get some images of the latter, please add those as well.
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