Butchers' Broom

Chris has, for some years now, been a member of a Byfield walking group, meeting on Mondays. However, a combination of ill health and foul weather has meant that she has missed several walks recently. Today was fine and Chris is feeling much better generally so I dropped her off at West Farndon, about two miles from Byfield, to join in today's walk.


I was about to set off to do my own thing when I noticed, in a hedgerow, a group of about three or four familiar-looking shrubs. They were specimens of Butchers' Broom, Ruscus aculeatus.

Butchers' Broom, showing undeveloped fruits in the middle of

the cladodes.  West Farndon Northants, 16 March, 2020

It is native to Britain, being found in, for example, Kent, but is certainly not a native of Northamptonshire. It does occur in our county in a number of places but only as a garden escape, in churchyards, and so on.

It is a decidedly odd plant for it has no leaves. Instead it has flattened stems, known as cladodes, which fulfil the functions of leaves. The word aculeate means 'with sharply pointed tips', and these plants are decidedly prickly. The flower-buds grow in the middle of these cladodes, again demonstrating that they are not leaves.

The bright red fruit, surprisingly untouched by birds.

If the fruit look vaguely like those of Asparagus that is not surprising for the two plants are related, both being placed in the Asparagaceae family. Richard Mabey (Ref.1) states that 'bundles of the spiny stalks were once used by butchers to scour butchers' blocks'. However Fitter & Fitter (Ref 2) state that it is 'not ever known to have been used by butchers for brooms'. So there!

A broad-leaved but less spiky form, which many years ago I found commonly growing on Gibraltar, is frequently used in florists' bouquets. Long ago it had a different use, being 'diaphoretic, diuretic, deobstruent and aperient' (Ref 3). (Apparently deobstruent beans 'removing obstructions'  or 'gravel' as older books put it, whereas diaphoretic means 'promoting sweating'.)

Anyway, I took half a dozen berries with a view to growing some plants - although I don't know why; perhaps the effort of growing them may promote sweating.


References


1. Mabey, R. (1997)  Flora Britannica  Chatto & Windus


2. Fitter, R. and M. (1967) Penguin Dictionary of British Natural History  Allen Lane


3. Wren, R.C. (3rd Ed., 1923) Potter's Cyclopaedia of Botanical Drugs and Preparations
                                                                         Potter and Clarke Ltd.