What is "ulex europaeus"

Furze \Furze\, n. [OE. firs, As. fyrs.] (Bot.) A thorny evergreen shrub ( Ulex Europ[ae]us), with beautiful yellow flowers, very common upon the plains and hills of Great Britain; -- called also gorse, and whin. The dwarf furze is Ulex nanus.

Ulex europaeus (gorse, common gorse, furze or whin) is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to portions of Europe from the northern United Kingdom south to Galicia in Spain and Portugal, and from the western Republic of Ireland east to Galicja in Poland and Ukraine.