Gorse
Eifel Gold
Gorse, or broom is a typical Eifel plant. “Live and in technicolour” the gorse, also known as Eifel gold, is wonderful to see in the summer on the Dreiborn plateau. It has spread over great areas there. Every second year, (uneven number of year) a great festival celebrates the gorse blooms in Dreiborn.
Gorse in the Eifel
The gorse heathlands of the Eifel are left over from intensive farming having taken place up to the end of the 19th century, whereby the outside edges of the grazed meadows with poor Eifel soil were seldom cultivated. Through the natural green overgrowth from the alternating field and heathland cultivation the fast -growing gorse was able to spread on the fallow land. In present times man-made open areas such as the Dreiborn high plains in the national park offer ideal locations for the 1-2metre high gorse bushes.
Interesting facts
As a pioneer plant, whose seed is capable of germinating after decades, gorse also grows on places with poor soil such as cliffs, roadsides or barren grasslands. On open areas its deep growing roots prevent the plant from being uprooted by heavy rainfall. At the same time nitrogen-binding bacteria in the root ball of the gorse increase the quality of the soil through organic nitrogen connections.