Description
Spartium junceum is a vigorous, deciduous shrub growing to 2–4 metres (7–13 feet) tall, rarely 5 m (16 ft), with main stems up to 5 centimetres (2 inches) thick, rarely 10 cm (4 in). It has thick, somewhat succulent grey-green rush-like shoots with very sparse small deciduous leaves 1 to 3 cm (1⁄2 to 1+1⁄4 in) long and up to 4 millimetres (1⁄8 in) broad. The leaves are of little importance to the plant, with much of the photosynthesis occurring in the green shoots (a water-conserving strategy in its dry climate). The leaves fall away early.[6] In late spring and summer shoots are covered in profuse fragrant yellow pea-like flowers 1 to 2 cm across. In late summer, the legumes (seed pods) mature black and reach 8–10 cm (3–4 in) long. They burst open, often with an audible crack, spreading seed from the parent plant.
