Planted: 2007

This tree is an the south side of the Malus Avenue, at the bottom of the slope.

All parts of this plant are poisonous.

Description: A unique tree created from a graft of purple broom, Cytisus purpureus, onto the common, yellow flowered laburnum, Laburnum anagyroides. This creates a Chimera with a core of Laburnum and an outer layer of Broom. Trees display both yellow and purple flowers, with some of intermediate colour. Only the yellow flowers develop into seeds.

Created in 1825 by French nurseyman J L Adam at his nursery in Vitry, near Paris.

This specimen shows no sign of the graft taking – the flowers a stubbonly yellow. The chimera is not completely stable and the stronger growing Laburnum frequently sheds the outer layer and ‘reverts.
Supplier:Langford Trees, Salisbury, Wiltshire
Growth Habit:Deciduous tree
Bark: SmoothSmooth
Leaf: Leaflets oval or ovate 4 to 6 cm long
Flowers: Racemes 8 to 14 cm long – yellowish suffused with purple.
Fruit: Sterile, in this form.
Toxicity: Seeds, when produced, contain a poisonous alkaloid and children have been known to die from eating them in the green state.
Potential tree size: 6m
Uses: Ornamental tree
Introduction Date:First appeared in the nursery of Mr Jean Louis Adam at Vitry near Paris in 1825.