When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season

AS Carl Linnaeus was crossing Putney Heath in London in 1736, the botanist’s eyes alighted on a prickly bush. Asking his coach to stop, he jumped out, fell to his knees and wept at the sight of the golden flowers, which he had been (unsuccessfully) trying to cultivate in his greenhouse in Uppsala, Sweden. Gorse might not usually provoke such an emotional reaction, but its ability to light up the winter gloom is unrivalled.

Common gorse () starts to flower in January and appears to flower all year—hence the old country saying ‘When gorse is out of bloom, kissing is out of season’—but this is actually a botanical illusion. There are three species of gorse and, when common) or, in the South-East of England, dwarf gorse () take up the torch from July to November. The result is a strong chance that, at any time of the year, at least one species of gorse will be in flower.