City Seeks Community Wide Effort to Help Eradicate Scotch Broom
The City of Florence and Dunes City is experiencing a much stronger than usual Scotch Broom (Cytisus Scoparius) growth this year, which has prompted concern from many area residents. Scotch Broom is classified as a “B Rated” Noxious Weed by the Oregon Department if Agriculture. This designation means that the weed has an undesirable economic impact on the State. VitalBodies has seen that digging the plant out roots and all is the best way to remove it. Although the plant is fairly large above the ground, the root ball is not very big.
"Phytochemicals: The plant yields amines (tyramine, dopamine), flavonoids (genistoside, spiracoside and scoparoside) and alkaloids (sparteine, in the twigs, lupanine, in seeds, ammodendrine or hydroxylupanine). It has poisonous flowers but the plant can be used for smoking." - Wikipedia
Credits Most of this information is from a Florence Police Department press release. Illustration of broom from Koehler's Medicinal Plants. (1887).
Scotch Broom is a species known to displace native plants. It readily invades disturbed sites, natural areas, dunes and public and private forest lands. Maintenance of rights-of-way, facilities, parkland and private property costs millions of dollars each year because of rapid growth of young plants and the plant's persistent nature. Seeds of Scotch Broom are long-lived (50 years plus) and mature plants are prolific seed producers, establishing persistent seed banks requiring long-term management objectives. The largest costs attributed to Scotch Broom come from additional inputs needed to establish trees in commercial and public timberlands. It is estimated that Scotch Broom costs Oregon $47 million dollars annually in lost timber production.
"It typically grows to 1-3 m tall, rarely 4 m, with main stems up to 5 cm thick, rarely 10 cm. It has green shoots with small deciduous trifoliate leaves 5-15 mm long, and in spring and summer is covered in profuse golden yellow flowers 20-30 mm from top to bottom and 15-20 mm wide. Flowering occurs after 50-80 growing degree days. In late summer, its legumes (seed pods) mature black, 2-3 cm long, 8 mm broad and 2-3 mm thick; they burst open, often with an audible crack, forcibly throwing seed from the parent plant. It is the hardiest species of broom, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°C " - Wikipedia
