Scientific Name: Cytisus scoparius
Common Name: Scotch Broom
Thomas Jefferson incorporated both Scotch and Spanish broom (Genista hispanica) into his early landscape schemes at Monticello, including his design for the grove and for an enormous labyrinth on the north side of the mountain.[1]
The plant had a variety of uses. It was recommended for hedges in Virginia and for feeding pigs and sheep.[2] It was also used for medicinal purposes, cloth and paper-making, and as a substitute for hops and coffee.[3] However, its most well-known function was as a broom, hence its name.[4]
Today Scotch broom is found naturalized at Monticello and along the Virginia roadside. It is a hardy, spring-flowering shrub with bright yellow, pea-like flowers and thin, evergreen stems.
- Peggy Cornett, n.d.
Primary Source References
1807 May 13. (Jefferson to Edmund Bacon). "I wish him [Wormley Hughes] to gather me a peck or two of clean broom seed, when ripe."[5]
1813 March 12. (Jefferson to John H. Cocke). "Th: Jefferson presents his compliments to mr Cocke, whose servant is desired to take as many Broom plants as he pleases, but having never found them to succeed by transplantation, he sends him some seed, which generally succeeds, altho sometimes it does not come up till the second spring."[6]
