Laburnum anagyroides — golden chain-tree
![Winter buds: Laburnum anagyroides. ~ By Jill Weber. ~ Copyright © 2025 Jill Weber. ~ jillweber03[at]gmail.com](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Fabaceae/laburnum-anagyroides-wb-jweber.jpg)
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Facts
Golden chain-tree (aka common laburnum) is notable for the chains of showy, yellow flowers it produces in May to June. This small tree is a member of the pea family, and its pods contain poisonous seeds.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), meadows and fields
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
Found this plant? Take a photo and post a sighting.
enlargeCharacteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Growth form
-
- the plant is a shrub (a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- the plant is a tree
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- green
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpel is solitary or (if 2 or more) the carpels are not fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- yellow or green
- Flower symmetry
- there is only one way to evenly divide the flower (the flower is bilaterally symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower has a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
- the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Ovary position
- the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
- Petal appearance
- the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
- Petal fusion
-
- the perianth parts are fused to form a tube, cup, or bell shape
- the perianth parts are separate
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Stamen number
- 10
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- NA
- Fruit tissue origin
-
- the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit
- there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is dry and splits open when ripe
- Fruit type (specific)
- legume
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
-
- the plant is a shrub (a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- the plant is a tree
-
Leaves
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs
- Leaf blade base shape
- the base of the leaf blade is rounded
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has no teeth or lobes
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
-
- NA
- the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
- the leaf blade is triangular, with the stalk or attachment point on one of the sides
- Leaf blade texture
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade translucent dots
- there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf teeth
- the edge of the leaf blade is entire (has no teeth or lobes)
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is compound (made up of two or more discrete leaflets
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaf is palmately compound with three leaflets
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
- Massachusetts
- Specific habitat
-
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- meadows or fields
-
Scent
- Plant odor
- the plant does not have much of an odor, or it has an unpleasant or repellant odor
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- green
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant does not have spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Not classified
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- absent
- Maine
- absent
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- absent
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- absent
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
- Massachusetts
- unranked (S-rank: SNR)
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
1. Laburnum anagyroides Medik. E
golden chain-tree. MA. Fields, roadsides, areas of habitation.
1×Laburnum alpinum Griseb. Laburnum ×watereri Dipp. is a rare chain-tree hybrid known from ME. It can be recognized by its sparsely sericeous leaflets (on the abaxial surface) and racemes and sparsely pubescent, few-seeded legumes (which are rarely developed) with a narrow, wing-like keel (moderately to densely sericeous leaflets and racemes and well-developed, appressed-pubescent fruits with a thick keel in L. anagyroides).