Young stems are green with hairs and five prominent ridges. Plants typically live to about 17 years of age. It is commonly found in open or disturbed areas, including roadsides, harvested forests, grasslands, and pastures. It can grow under a wide variety of conditions, but prefers well draining soil and full sun. Scotch broom is a perennial shrub that reaches 3-12 feet in height. In Washington, it is more prevalent west of the Cascades, as this distribution map from the Washington Department of Agriculture shows. Currently, it grows throughout the east and west coasts of North America, inland to Idaho, Montana, and Utah, and occurs in Hawaii. It was brought to the United States as an ornamental plant in the 1800s and was used in gardens as well as to prevent erosion. Scotch broom, or Scot’s broom, ( Cytisus scoparius) is a member of the Fabaceae (legume) family native to Northern Africa and Europe. They are a familiar sight here in Western Washington, commonly found along roads, open fields, and even the dunes. If you’ve been around Ocean Shores recently, you might have seen these yellow blooms starting to pop up.
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