Laburnum in "L. anagyroides" and long in "L. alpinum". They have yellow pea-flowers in pendulous leafless racemes long in spring, which makes them very popular garden trees. In "L. anagyroides", the racemes are long, with densely packed flowers; in "L. alpinum" the racemes are long, but with the flowers sparsely along the raceme. The fruit develops as a pod and is extremely poisonous. The yellow flowers are responsible for the old poetic name 'golden chain tree' (also spelled golden chaintree or goldenchain tree). All parts of the plant are poisonous, although mortality is very rare. Symptoms of laburnum poisoning may include
HMS Laburnum (1915) of Ireland with the loss of 32 lives. "Laburnum" was one of several ships, also including the seaplane carrier and the sloops and , to go to "Hesperian"s aid. Attempts to tow "Hesperian" to port failed, with the stricken liner sinking on 6 September. The sinking of the "Hesperian", which occurred despite an assurance to US President Woodrow Wilson from the German Chancellor Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg that no passenger liners would be sank without warning, provoked protests from America that resulted in the submarine campaign against merchant shipping in British waters being suspended for several months. On 24 April 1916,