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
Laburnum the Pacific Northwest and Northern Europe. "Laburnum" trees are ubiquitous in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland, where they are commonly planted as lawn specimens or in shrub borders. Most garden specimens are of the hybrid between the two species, "Laburnum" ×"watereri" 'Vossii' (Voss's laburnum), which combines the longer racemes of "L. alpinum" with the denser flowers of "L. anagyroides"; it also has the benefit of low seed production. It has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Laburnum Laburnum, sometimes called golden chain or golden rain, is a genus of two species of small trees in the subfamily