The plant grows and flowers in damp and mild habitats, especially in the calcareous soils of Southern Europe.

The leaves are generally trifoliate and oval with long petioles, smooth on the upperside and hairy on the underside.

[1] Laburnum anagyroides blooms in late spring with pea-like, yellow flowers densely packed in pendulous racemes 10–25 cm (4–10 in) long.

The pods are legumes with large numbers of black seeds that contain cytisine, an alkaloid somewhat poisonous to humans as well as goats and horses, especially when not ripe.

However, some wild animals such as hares and deer can feed on them without any problems, and because of this the plant is believed to have magic properties in some regions.