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Cytisus nigricans; photograph author not stated, no rights reserved CC0author not stated, no rights reserved · observed growing wild · 2026-07-23

Cytisus nigricans L.

Black broom

Fabaceae · Austria, Czechoslovakia +14

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Cytisus nigricans, photograph (c) Vladimír Fuka, some rights reserved (CC BY)Cytisus nigricans, photograph (c) Vladimír Fuka, some rights reserved (CC BY)Cytisus nigricans, photograph (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY)Cytisus nigricans, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCytisus nigricans, photograph author not stated, no rights reservedCytisus nigricans, photograph (c) carnifex, some rights reserved (CC BY) 80 photographs ›
Habitat figures
Cold floor (1 night in 100)
-14.0°C
Record low -24.1 °C in 44 years, at a typical spot in the range NASA POWER
Warmest month, mean daily high
23°C
Jul and Aug at the habitat CHELSA
Rain a year (median across the range)
790mm
12 months of 25 mm or more in the median year CHELSA
Open-sky light
5–35DLI
Lowest to highest month (DLI) CHELSA
The year in your months, northern hemisphere
  1. Jan
  2. Feb
  3. Mar
  4. Apr
  5. May
  6. Jun
  7. Jul
  8. Aug
  9. Sep
  10. Oct
  11. Nov
  12. Dec
Rain spread: 70% of the median year's rain takes 8 months, so no short rainy season. rain rule, CHELSA
Northern hemisphere unless you set your site. The chart is in the habitat's months.

Summary

Cytisus nigricans, the black broom, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Faboideae of the family Fabaceae. Growing 3–5 ft (0.91–1.52 m) tall, it is a slender deciduous shrub with erect branches. Masses of brilliant yellow, slightly fragrant pea-like flowers appear in long racemes on the current year's growth in summer and early autumn.

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Cytisus nigricans", CC BY-SA 4.0.

About the genus · Cytisus

Cytisus is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, native to open sites in Europe, western Asia and North Africa. It belongs to the subfamily Faboideae, and is one of several genera in the tribe Genisteae which are commonly called brooms. They are shrubs producing masses of brightly coloured, pea-like flowers, often highly fragrant. More on Wikipedia ›

Quoted from Wikipedia, "Cytisus", CC BY-SA 4.0.

Cultivation

Seasons

The rain rule reads no short rainy season: 70% of the median year's rain (585 mm of 786 mm) takes 8 months, May to December. Mean temperature moves 19.8 °C between the warmest and coldest month. Months are the habitat's, northern hemisphere; shifted six months for a southern-hemisphere collection: November to June.

Rain

786 mm in the median year at the habitat, 585 mm of it May to December. Wettest month July at 93 mm, driest month February at 45 mm. Across the grid cells of the range the year's total runs 594 mm to 1,109 mm, the 10th to 90th percentile of each cell's own year. The median of the cells' own yearly totals, 790 mm, is the year's rain at the top of the page; the 786 mm here is the median year's, the twelve monthly medians added, which the rain rule reads. Habitat calendar, northern hemisphere; median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA.

Light

Open sky over the habitat: 5 to 35 mol/m²/day across the year (daily light integral, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA; the lowest 10th-percentile month across the cells is 4, the highest 90th-percentile month 36).

Warmth and air
Temperature

Coldest: the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range is -14.0 °C, the absolute minimum -24.1 °C, 4,800 frost nights in 44 years, 109.1 a year (NASA POWER daily minima). Warmest: the 99th-percentile day is 30.9 °C. Monthly means: the coldest month's mean nightly low -4.3 °C in January (across the grid cells of the range -7.4 °C to -2.9 °C), the warmest month's mean daily high 23.0 °C in July (median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). Cold floor: -14.0 °C, which is the 1st-percentile night over 44 years at a typical spot in the range (NASA POWER).

Humidity

Relative humidity at the habitat: 58 to 68% across the year (monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range, CHELSA). A figure about the air, saying nothing about how the plant takes water.

How this section is made

Each card states this species' habitat figures with their sources, and what two fixed rules read from them; nothing here says what the plant does, wants or tolerates. The rules · the terms.

Seasons. Read from the median year of CHELSA monthly rainfall and mean temperature across the grid cells of the range: the rain rule takes the smallest set of months carrying 70% of the rain and calls it winter when its mean is more than half a degree below the year's, summer when more than that above, and neither in between; the temperature rule, used only under 120 mm, names the cooler six months when they are at least a degree cooler than the other six. Months are shifted for the other hemisphere only where the temperature curve moves 4 °C or more and the habitat lies 10° or more from the equator. A reading of the curves, not an observation of the plant.

Rain. CHELSA monthly precipitation, median year across the grid cells of the range. The rain that falls where the species is recorded; nothing about how the plant takes water.

Light. CHELSA shortwave radiation at each envelope cell, a daily-mean flux taken to a daily total and converted at 2.07 mol of PAR per MJ. The sky over the habitat, measured; what reaches a plant under a rock, a shrub or a shade cloth is not.

Temperature. NASA POWER daily minima and maxima over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, lapse-corrected -111 m to its elevation; CHELSA monthly means, median year across the grid cells of the range. The cold floor is the 1st-percentile night named in its sentence. Not a measured survival limit for any plant in a pot.

Humidity. CHELSA relative humidity, median year across the grid cells of the range.

Climate across the habitat

Habitat months, northern hemisphere

Habitat climate of Cytisus nigricans through the yearWarmest months July and August, mean daily high 23 °C; coldest month January, mean nightly low -4.3 °C; 786 mm of rain in the median year (the twelve monthly medians added). Medians across the range, from CHELSA; the extremes at the edge from NASA POWER. Habitat months, northern hemisphere.-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°frost30.9° 99th-percentile day, NASA POWER-24.1° lowest night in 44 years, NASA POWER°C · day and nightcold quarter0255075100125150mm rainDLI 5–35RH 58–68%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
day night rain medians and 10th–90th percentile across 830 habitat cells, CHELSA cold quarter: the three months around the coldest month's mean nightly low extremes over 44 years at a typical spot in the range, from NASA POWER, marked at the edge, in no month DLI, mol/m²/dayRH %each on its own scale
Figures by month
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Day °C2 / -1–34 / 1–58 / 6–913 / 11–1418 / 16–1921 / 19–2223 / 21–2523 / 21–2418 / 16–1913 / 11–147 / 5–83 / 0–4
Night °C-4 / -7–-3-4 / -6–-20 / -3–13 / 2–48 / 7–912 / 10–1314 / 12–1514 / 12–1510 / 8–116 / 4–71 / -1–2-3 / -6–-1
Rain mm52 / 28–8145 / 28–6855 / 36–8349 / 36–7577 / 62–10985 / 67–12593 / 73–12981 / 66–12865 / 51–10060 / 37–8960 / 39–8764 / 36–93
DLI7 / 5–912 / 10–1419 / 17–2229 / 27–3033 / 32–3535 / 33–3634 / 32–3630 / 28–3121 / 19–2314 / 12–157 / 6–95 / 4–7
RH %66 / 63–6964 / 61–6761 / 59–6358 / 57–5958 / 57–6059 / 58–6158 / 57–6059 / 57–6162 / 60–6364 / 63–6667 / 65–6968 / 64–70
How this section is made
Each figure is the median across the 830 grid cells holding the 1026 in-range records, with the 10th–90th percentile span across those cells after the slash where it differs. A dash is a month one or more of those cells has no figure for in the grid (a variable CHELSA does not carry there), so no median is taken rather than one over fewer cells. Extremes and elevation were read at a typical spot in the range, cell 821:3853 (48.925, 12.675). Over 44 years there: absolute minimum -24.1 °C, 1st-percentile night -14.0 °C, 99th-percentile day 30.9 °C. Normals: CHELSA V2.1 1981–2010 climatology, 0.05° cells (each the mean of ~36 1 km pixels). Across the range: median and 10th–90th percentile of each month across the 830 distinct grid cells holding 1026 of the 1026 in-range records; extremes and elevation at the typical cell 821:3853 (its coldest month's mean nightly low nearest the median across cells); its position is the cell centre. Extremes: NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 49.00_12.500, lapse-corrected -111 m at 6.5 °C/km. Elevation: ETOPO 2022, 341 m (cell mean).

Natural habitat

Native range as published by WCVP; the marker is where the records are densest and decides nothing: the climate was read across the cells of the in-range records placed well enough to read one, not at the marker.
Openly licensed records inside the range, framed on where they fall.
NativeAustria, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Switzerland, Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Romania, Yugoslavia, Belarus, Central European Russia, East European Russia, Ukraine · introduced: Great Britain, Baltic States · regions are the level-3 units of the World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, as Kew's World Checklist records ranges, some under historical names such as Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia (how).
Map marker49.19, 12.06 · in the densest population, 583 records (37% of those in range)
Kew's description“subshrub” · “temperate” · quoted from WCVP, RBG Kew (CC BY 4.0); not derived here
Evidence usedThe map marker rests on all 1579 georeferenced records inside the native range; the climate across the range on the 1026 of them placed to within 10 km; the map shows only the 1034 openly licensed ones, which alone would put the marker 4 km away. 10 records outside the WCVP native range not used. 553 in-range records are placed to worse than 10 km, or with no stated accuracy (admitted only as a person's observation to three decimals), and stay on the map but off the climate.
How this section is made
The map marker: the openly licensed record nearest the middle of the densest 1° population of the 1579 in-range records; it decides nothing. Records outside the native range, living specimens and records marked introduced are not used; which records count.

Photographs

Cytisus nigricans, photograph 1did not loadCytisus nigricans, photograph 2did not loadCytisus nigricans, photograph 3did not loadCytisus nigricans, photograph 4did not loadCytisus nigricans, photograph 5did not loadCytisus nigricans, photograph 6did not load

Photographs: (c) Vladimír Fuka, some rights reserved (CC BY) (2); (c) Christoph Moning, some rights reserved (CC BY); author not stated, no rights reserved · CC0 (2); (c) carnifex, some rights reserved (CC BY).

Similar habitat climate The 6 nearest by mean daily high, mean nightly low and rain, month by month. How.

Galeopsis pubescens Galeopsis pubescens Downy hemp-nettle Photo: CC BY, Helen WatermanCarex buekii Carex buekii Banat sedge Photo: CC BY, BellsproutSeseli annuum Seseli annuum Annual cicely Photo: CC0, author not statedPilosella bauhini Pilosella bauhini Bauhin's mouse-ear hawkweed Photo: CC BY, Bobo-XAria danubialis Aria danubialis Rosaceae Photo: CC BY, Vladimír FukaPotentilla inclinata Potentilla inclinata Grey cinquefoil Photo: CC0, author not stated

Other Cytisus 14 in the reference

Cytisus arboreus Cytisus arboreus Spanish Tree Broom Photo: CC BY, Flavien SaboureauCytisus balansae Cytisus balansae Fabaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, sblasco829yCytisus decumbens Cytisus decumbens Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, arthur_haendlerCytisus emeriflorus Cytisus emeriflorus Fabaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Pietro BrignoliCytisus filipes Cytisus filipes Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Donald DavesneCytisus fontanesii Cytisus fontanesii Fabaceae Photo: CC BY-SA, Roland GreinwaldCytisus grandiflorus Cytisus grandiflorus Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Duarte FradeCytisus multiflorus Cytisus multiflorus White broom Photo: CC BY, zebedeugalinhaCytisus oromediterraneus Cytisus oromediterraneus Pyrenean broom Photo: CC BY, Thierry ArbaultCytisus procumbens Cytisus procumbens Fabaceae Photo: CC BY, Patrick HackerCytisus scoparius Cytisus scoparius Scotch broom Photo: CC0, author not statedCytisus striatus Cytisus striatus Hairy-fruited broom Photo: CC BY, Duarte Frade all 15 ›

Names & registers

Also known as Calophaca nigricans; Cytisus nigricans var. australis; Cytisus nigricans var. nigricans; Cytisus virgatus; Genista nigricans and 3 more. (GBIF Backbone)

GBIFPOWOIPNIWFOWikidataWikipediaiNaturalist

The record

Family
Fabaceae
Described by
L.
Native to
Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany +13
Wild records
1579 in range · 1034 open

Every figure here is derived from public data by a stated rule and names its source; nothing about this species is written for its page by a person or by AI, apart from the marked, credited quotations. How →

Where this page came from built 2026-10-22
GBIF species record gbif.species answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF synonyms gbif.synonyms answeredasked 2026-10-22
GBIF common names gbif.vernacular answeredasked 2026-10-22names fetched 2026-10-22; "Cytisus villosus" not shown: a scientific name Kew or this reference holds
WCVP native range wcvp.distribution answeredas of 2026-06-04
GBIF occurrence records gbif.occurrences answeredas of 2026-10-21GBIF occurrence download https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.hbdw64, of 2026-10-21; 5 records within 1 km of a botanic garden, herbarium or zoo left out (3 at a botanic garden or arboretum, 2 at a zoo; Wikidata's list)
Habitat climate climate answeredasked 2026-10-22
Daily extremes (NASA POWER) climate.extremes answeredasked 2026-10-22NASA POWER (MERRA-2) daily 1981–2024, cell 49.00_12.500, lapse-corrected -111 m at 6.5 °C/km
Wikidata wikidata answeredasked 2026-10-22
Wikipedia wikipedia answeredasked 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, wild inat.photos.wild answeredasked 2026-10-22from iNaturalist's open data of 2026-09-27: research-grade observations with an open-licence photograph, the 24 whose photographs iNaturalist received last (the open data holds no votes); filled 2026-10-22
iNaturalist photographs, cultivated inat.photos.cultivated not asked
GBIF media gbif.media answeredasked 2026-10-22
OpenAlex papers openalex not askednot yet asked for this reference; a later fill takes the papers from OpenAlex's snapshot

Every source is recorded as having answered, reported nothing, refused, failed, not been asked, or answered twice where one answer is taken (“not taken: two items answered”), and, for a source asked when this page was built, when: the figures are as the source held them that day; a source read from a file (Kew's World Checklist, a GBIF download) says "as of" the file's day instead; a row carried from an earlier build of the page names that build instead. Only “nothing to report” is ever shown as an absence. Records came from 66 datasets via GBIF.org; each carries its own licence.

Cultifolio

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