French Broom, or Genista monspessulana, is a pretty bush, ranging from 7-10 feet tall, with soft green leaves, and in spring it is covered with small, cheerful yellow flowers.
It is actually a memeber of the legume family, and makes little pea pods for its seeds. I didn't see anything about it when I looked, but if it is a member of the pea family, then it probably adds nitrogen to the soil, yes? Or fixes it, or whatever.
It is from the Mediterranean, and people used to make brooms with it. I tried to make a broom a couple of years ago from one in my yard, but the leaves would fall all over the floor when I tried to sweep. Next time I'll remove the leaves beforehand.
It has been used a lot for erosion control, and in gardens, and from there it has escaped into the wild and naturalized itself. This is the "weed" part of French Broom; it is very aggressive and pushes out native shrubs like Coyote Brush and Rabbit Brush.
Leaves, seeds, and flowers are toxic. French Broom grows in dense stands that take over meadows (pushing out grazing animals) and shade out tree seedlings. They are oily and burn very hot, so supposedly they are a fire hazard, but (with apologies to all the manzanitas and chaparrals) what bush in California is not a fire hazard?
People get rid of it by hand pulling and by burning, and with herbicides. According to a study (click here for pdf file) by the California Exotic Pest Plant Council, the most effective way is to treat the plants with herbicide, then cut them down, and then burn the area.
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