Laburnum musical instruments. In addition to such wind instruments as recorders and flutes, it was a popular wood for Great Highland Bagpipes before taste turned to imported dense tropical hardwoods such as "Brya ebenus" (cocus wood), ebony, and "Dalbergia melanoxylon" (African monkeywood). The heart-wood of a laburnum may be used as a substitute for ebony or rosewood. It is very hard and a dark chocolate brown, with a butter-yellow sapwood. "Laburnum" species and hybrids are cultivated as ornamental trees for gardens and parks. They are also trained as espaliers on pergolas, for ceilings of pendant flowers in season. In its natural
Laburnum alpinum of this plant are highly poisonous and should not be eaten or used internally. It is native to Central and Southern Europe and has naturalized in Scotland. "L. alpinium" and "L. anagyroides" Medic. both are common as a garden escape in Northern Ireland. "Laburnum alpinum" is cultivated as an ornamental tree. Plants can be successfully transplanted even when quite large. The most common ornamental Laburnum plant is a hybrid of this species and "Laburnum anagyroides", Laburnum × watereri. The plant prefers well-drained, light (sandy), medium (loamy) soil but tolerates heavy clay and nutritionally poor soils. Preferring acid, neutral and basic