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Portrait of Butcher's broom

Nature · Shrubs

Butcher's broom

Native in the south · flowers in spring, berries autumn–winter · dry woods, hedges and sea cliffs

Ruscus aculeatus — Asparagaceae

A low, dark, evergreen sub-shrub of dry southern woods and hedges whose 'leaves' are really flattened, spine-tipped stems. Tiny flowers sit in the middle of these false leaves and, on female plants, become bright red berries. Its stiff twigs were once bundled by butchers to scrub their chopping blocks.

How to spot them

  • ▸Stiff, glossy dark green, spine-tipped, lance-shaped 'leaves' about 2.5 cm long that are really flattened stems (cladodes)
  • ▸Tiny greenish flowers borne on the face of the cladodes, in the middle of the false leaf
  • ▸Bright red berries on female plants in autumn and winter; plants are dioecious
  • ▸Evergreen, 0.5–1 m tall, growing in dense dark clumps spreading by rhizomes
  • ▸Look-alike: holly and other spiny leaves; but flowers and berries never grow from the middle of a true leaf, as they do here

How to know it

Spine-tipped 'leaves' that are really flattened stems carry tiny flowers on their faces and, on female plants, red berries

Butcher's broom — the cladodes.

Its bristly twigs were bundled and used by butchers to clean their chopping blocks

Butcher's broom.

A dark evergreen, spiny sub-shrub of southern England, found on sea cliffs and in dry woods, whose sexes are on separate plants

Butcher's broom (BSBI).

Only female plants bear the bright red berries, which are ornamental and not to be eaten

Butcher's broom (RHS).

Flowers and berries sprout from the middle of its flat, spiny blades, which are botanically stems rather than leaves

Butcher's broom — a cladode, not a leaf.

Quick-fire facts

  • •Ruscus aculeatus, family Asparagaceae (formerly placed in the lily family); aculeatus means 'prickly'
  • •BSBI: native to Britain and the Channel Islands, found in dry woods, hedgerows and on cliffs near the sea in southern England, the Channel Islands and Gower; a neophyte in Ireland
  • •Dioecious, evergreen and rhizomatous, spreading by rhizomes and bird-dispersed seed
  • •GB Red List: Least Concern; Welsh Red List: Vulnerable (BSBI)
  • •RHS: up to about 75 cm tall, with glossy lance-shaped cladophylls about 2.5 cm long; female plants carry glossy red berries in summer and autumn
  • •TOXICITY: RHS says the berries are ornamental and not to be eaten, and advises gloves when handling
  • •The name reflects its use by butchers, who bundled the stiff stems to scrub chopping blocks
  • •Shade-tolerant and drought-resistant, so a dark evergreen of woodland floors

Drill it — 6 cards

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Sources