Seasonal Wild Flowers

Latin name

Laburnum anagyroides

Other names

Golden Rain, Golden Chain

Family

Fabaceae

Flowering season

May to June

English distribution

It is found throughout the country except for parts of the

Northeast, the far Southeast and the far Southwest.

See the BSBI distribution map for Laburnum

Habitat

It is a neophyte, which was introduced into the UK in the

1590s, and has been known in the wild since the 1870s.

It appears to be increasing in the wild and the Online Atlas

for the British and Irish Flora suggests that this is because

botanists have become more interested in recording

alien trees.

It is grown in gardens, parks and amenity areas and

is spread by birds. It has become naturalised on waste

ground and by tracks, roads and railways.

Description

Laburnum is a small, ornamental, nitrogen-fixing tree

growing up to 8m.

The flowers are on downward hanging spikes up to

30cm long.

Each flower is up to 2cm and is bright yellow.

Seed pods are up to 6cm long and initially grey-green.

They turn brown and contain black seeds.

Leaves have 3 leaflets up to 8cm.

Twigs are grey with appressed hairs.

The bark starts off green and becomes brownish green.

All parts of the plant are poisonous, especially the pods

and seeds.

According to Wikipedia, symptoms of Laburnum poisoning

may include: 'intense sleepiness, vomiting, convulsions,

coma, slight frothing at the mouth and unequally dilated

pupils. Diarrhoea can be very severe and convulsions

resemble those in tetanus.' Death is rare.

The main toxin is cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist.