Laburnum anagyroides plant contain cytisine and are poisonous if consumed. The wood is hard and heavy, of a yellow/brown colour, ideal for making posts, for woodturning and as fuel. In the past (and today on historic re-enactments) it was used for making bows. The tree is also known as "false ebony" since the wood from very old specimens could be used in place of ebony. "Laburnum anagyroides" is cultivated as an ornamental tree. The most common ornamental plant in the genus is a hybrid between this species and "Laburnum alpinum" — Laburnum × watereri. The English poet Francis Thompson described the "laburnum"
Laburnum Laburnum Laburnum, sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are "Laburnum anagyroides"—common laburnum and "Laburnum alpinum"—alpine laburnum. They are native to the mountains of southern Europe from France to the Balkans. Some botanists include a third species, "Laburnum caramanicum", but this native of southeast Europe and Anatolia is usually treated in a distinct genus "Podocytisus", more closely allied to the "Genisteae" (brooms). The "Laburnum" trees are deciduous. The leaves are trifoliate, somewhat like a clover; the leaflets are typically long