Ulex
![](/Images/godic/202502/18/Whin_or_Gorse_on_Fife_Coastal_Trail1950.jpg")
![In full flower at Dalgarven Mill in Scotland.](/Images/godic/202502/18/Whin_or_Gorse1950.JPG")
![Ulex landscape around Corral Bay in Southern Chile.](/Images/godic/202502/18/Ulex_landscape1950.JPG")
![Controlled burning of gorse in Devon, England](/Images/godic/202502/18/Controlling_gorse_on_Dartmoor_7521950.jpg")
Ulex (gorse, furze or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are native to parts of western Europe and northwest Africa, with the majority of species in Iberia.