Sitting beneath the Cambridge oak in the Gilbert Carter Woodland, this shrubby pea brings brilliant colour.
The cosmopolitan pea family Fabaceae is the third largest flowering plant family, containing an estimated 700 genera of trees, shrubs, herbs, annuals, climbers, bulbs and aquatics. The genus Petteria contains this single shrubby species from the Balkans, which is closely related to the more familiar Laburnum. It is erect in habit, reaching 2m in height, and bears upright racemes of fragrant yellow, pea-like flowers. The alternate foliage is typical of the family, being tri-lobed. Though it reputedly requires free-draining soil in full sun, it flowers well in this shady position.