Appearance

Cytisus striatus is a perennial evergreen shrub, (family Fabaceae) growing from 6-10 ft (2.0-3.04 m) in height. Like most plants in the Fabaceae family, they have the ability to fix nitrogen. Young plants have an upright growth but spread and branch as they mature. Stems have photosynthetic ability. Slender branches are covered sparsely by small leaves. C. striatus is native to northern Africa and southwestern Europe.

Foliage

C. striatus leaves have from one to three leaflets. The leaflets are 0.3 to 0.5 in (5-15 mm) long. Leaves have short petioles on lower branches, becoming sessile as they rise up the stem. Leaves are more abundant at outer ends of actively growing branches.

Flowers

The inflorescence of C. striatus consists of a cluster of 1 to 2 yellow pea-like flowers on pedicels from 0.2-0.4 in (5-10 mm) long. Flowers are found in the leaf axils.

Fruit

C. striatus fruit is a legume, 0.7 to 1.8 in (15-40 mm) long. Fruits are covered with dense white hairs. Each pod contains from about 5-9 seeds.

Ecological Threat

While the distribution of C. striatus is presently more limited than C. scoparius, they do occur in similar habitats and are believed to have similar ecological characteristics.

Citations

Winston, R.L., Andreas, J.E., Milan, J., DesCamp, W., Randell, C.B., and M. Schwarzländer. 2014. New Invaders of the Northwest. United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Health Technology Enterprise Team. FHTET-2014-12. Retrieved from https://www.fs.fed.us/foresthealth/technology/pdfs/FHTET-2014-12_NW_New_Invaders.pdf

Resources

• California Invasive Plant Council - Cal-IPC

Selected Images

Maps

Invasive Listing Sources

• California Invasive Plant Council
• New Invaders of the Northwest
• Oregon Noxious Weeds
• Pacific Northwest Exotic Pest Plant Council, 1998
• WeedUS - Database of Plants Invading Natural Areas in the United States

References