Shortfinals – aviation and more!

By: shortfinals

Jan 29 2011

Tags: 'self-mulching', 'Suitability of Agonopterix ulicetella (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) as a Control for Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae: Genisteae) in New Zealand' Biocontrol Science and Technology, 1936, 1995, 1995; 5 (1): 3 -10, A38, Agonopterix ulicetella, Apion ulicis, Argentina, Australia, bacteria, bake bread, Bandon, beneficial effect, biocontrol, Biocontrol Science and Technology, biological control, blossoms, Brazil, bread, Britain, British Columbia, California, Calluna vulgaris, Canada, Canadian Province, Chickens, Chile, coconut, Colombia, Common Gorse, Common Heather, crushed by hand, dead foliage, Dead gorse branches, dense layer, Derby-Leeds trunk road, Derbyshire, different local species, Dwarf Furze, eastern half of the country, ecological problems, ends of the branches, England, evergreen, excellent fuel, Experimental Archeology Site, extensive root system, Fabaceae, fire hazard, fire-generated shoots, foliage, France, furse, furze, Genisteae, goats, gorse, gorse blossom, Gorse bushes, gorse family, Gorse Soft Shoot Moth, Gorse Weevil, grazing animals, Great Britain, green stems, half a million acres, Hawai'i, heath fires, Hill et al, hill pasture, India, infestations, invasive species, legumes, Lepidoptera, life-cycle, long flowering season, major infestations, natural oils, New York, New Zealand, nitrogen content, nitrogen-fixing, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, nodules, notified to the authorities, noxious weed, Oecophoridae, old country saying, Oregon, ornamental bush, other plants, pea, pea family, photosynthetic, poorer soils, pounded by stones, prehistoric oven, Ripley, Ripley Derbyshire., rocky ground, Romans, root system, salt-extraction site, same fuel, sandy soils, seeds, seminal paper, serious ecological problems, sharp thorns, smothering other species, spines, strong competitor for space, strong fragrance, Suffolk, Suffolk County Council, Suffolk County Council Archeology Service, swift-moving heath fires, thorns, throughout the world, tilling the soil, trunk road, Tunstall Suffolk, Ulex europaeus, Ulex gallii, Ulex minor, USA, viable biocontrol, Washington, Western Gorse, western US states, when gorse is out of blossom kissing's out of fashion, whin, whole town of Bandon, winter fodder

Category: British Isles, Derbyshire, England, France, Great Britain, Plants, Scotland

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Gorse bushes (sometimes known as furze, furse or whin) are common on rough, rocky ground – something that is in plentiful supply in my native Derbyshire! Here we see a bush of Common Gorse (Ulex europaeus) growing alongside the A38 Derby-Leeds trunk road, near Ripley, Derbyshire. The masses of pea-like blossoms are concentrated towards the ends of the branches, which carry many sharp thorns; these are green, and along with the green stems, provide most of the photosynthetic effort of the plant. Seeds are held in pods (like legumes) and are often expelled several feet away from the plant when the pod snaps open (this effect is pronounced should the gorse bush be consumed by fire). There are two other members of the evergreen gorse family in Britain, the Western Gorse (U. gallii), which, as its name suggests, is found mainly in the west, and the Dwarf Furze (U. minor), found in the eastern half of the country on mostly sandy soils.

The root system of the gorse carries nodules which contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria (again, common with members of the pea family, Fabaceae), and, as such, will improve the nitrogen content of poorer soils for other plants. This beneficial effect is negated by the fact that gorse is a strong competitor for space, crowding out and smothering other species (it generates a dense layer of dead foliage, spines, and other material beneath the bush, becoming almost ‘self-mulching’). Members of the gorse family contain quantities of natural oils in their foliage, meaning that areas of gorse are prone to swift-moving heath fires. In many ways (as with Common Heather, Calluna vulgaris), this is a necessary part of the life-cycle of the plant. Dead gorse branches make for excellent fuel, having been used to successfully bake bread in a reconstruction of a prehistoric oven at the Experimental Archeology Site at Tunstall, Suffolk (the Suffolk County Council Archeology Service also found that Romans had used the same fuel at their nearby salt-extraction site). Gorse (or whin) was also crushed by hand (pounded by stones) and used as winter fodder for grazing animals, particularly in Scotland.

Ulex europaeus has become widespread throughout the world, usually being imported as an ornamental bush (the flowers have a strong fragrance like coconut, for some people). This has caused serious ecological problems in some areas. In the USA, the states of Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii classify gorse as a noxious weed, (as well as the Canadian Province of British Columbia) and all infestations of this invasive species must be notified to the authorities. The fire hazard was shown with the loss, in 1936, of almost the whole town of Bandon, Oregon, to a massive fire; 14 people died, and the main cause of the disaster was the gorse growing in and around the town. As well as the USA, there are major infestations in Chile, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, India, Australia and especially New Zealand, where up to half a million acres of potential hill pasture has been lost to the plant. Gorse can be controlled by digging up the extensive root system, or tilling the soil. Chickens will eat the seeds and foliage and goats the younger (fire-regenerated) shoots. In some western US states, the Gorse Weevil (Apion ulicis) has been introduced from France as a means of biological control. Biocontrol in Chile is centred on the Gorse Soft Shoot Moth (Agonopterix ulicetella), which was also shown to be a viable biocontrol for New Zealand in a seminal paper (Hill et al, ‘Suitability of Agonopterix ulicetella (Lepidoptera: Oecophoridae) as a Control for Ulex europaeus (Fabaceae: Genisteae) in New Zealand’ Biocontrol Science and Technology, 1995; 5 (1): 3 -10).

The old country saying “When gorse is out of blossom, kissing’s out of fashion”, comes from the fact that with its long flowering season and the three different local species, you are almost always able to find some gorse blossom, somewhere!