Furze

Furze, Gorse, or Whin, the popular names of the small genus Vhx, belonging to the order Leguminosae. They are much-branched, very spinous plants, with axillary, sweet-scented, yellow flowers, which have a bilabiate calyx, and with swollen, few-seeded pods, which burst elastically when ripe. They occur on heaths on a clay or sandy soil, or even on shingle, from Denmark to Italy, and the larger species, If. europcvus. often forms a characteristic feature in English landscape. A double-flowered form is grown in gardens. The tough woody stem is used for making walking-sticks; and the shoots, if the plant is cut down, when bruised, form a fodder of which cattle are fond. The plant contains a powerfully purgative alkaloid, known as u lex inc.