Gorse, furze, furse or whin (Ulex) is a genus of about 20 plant species of spiny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae, native to western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia. Gorse is closely related to the brooms, and like them, has green stems and very small leaves and is adapted to dry growing conditions. However it differs in its extreme spininess, with the shoots being modified into branched spines 1–4 centimetres (0.39–1.6 in) long, which almost wholly replace the leaves as the plant's functioning photosynthetic organs.
