briar vs gorse

briar

noun
  • The white heath (Erica arborea), a thorny Mediterranean shrub. 

  • Any of many plants with thorny stems growing in dense clusters, such as many in the Rosa, Rubus, and Smilax genera. 

  • Anything sharp or unpleasant to the feelings. 

  • A pipe for smoking, made from the roots of that shrub. 

gorse

noun
  • Evergreen shrub, of the genus Ulex, having spiny leaves and yellow flowers. 

How often have the words briar and gorse occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )