DIOECIA— TRIANDRIA. Ruscus. 235 



or at the back. Berries red. Some species have united 

 Jloiversj one or more bear them in ckisters. 



1. R. aculeatus. Common Butcher's-broom. 



Leaves ovate, sharp-pointed, flowering on the upper side 

 without a leaflet. 



R. aculeatus, Lhin. Sp. PL 1474. Willd.vA. 874. Fl. i?r. 1073. 

 Engl. Dot. V. 8. t. 560. Hook. Scot. 288. Woodv. Suppl. t. 237. 

 Mill. Illustr. t. 96. Bull. Fr. t. 243. 



R. n. 1238. Hall. Hist. V. 2. 116. 



Ruscus. Rail Syn. 262. Ger.Em.907.f. Trag. Hist.9\9.f. Matth. 

 Valgr. V. 2.555./. Camer. Epit. 935./. Bauh. Hist. v. 1 . 579./. 

 Bauh. Pin. 470. 



Myrtacanthaj Murina spina, sive Myrtus sylvestris. Lob. Ic. 

 637./ 



Aatpvij, Daphne. Diosc. Ic. 1 32./. 



Butcher's Broom. Petiv. H. Brit. t. 44. f. 4. 



/3. Ruscus laxus. Tr, of Li7in, Soc. v. 3. 334. 



On bushy heaths, and in woods, more especially on a gravelly 

 soil. 



jS. At Stoke, near Gosporl, plentifully. Mr. G. Caley. 



Perennial. March, April. 



Root fleshy, much divided at the crown, sending up many branched, 

 leafy, round, rigid, furrowed stems, 2 feet high, not flowering till 

 the second year, after which they die down to the root. Whole 

 herb dark green, smooth in every part. Leaves a continuation of 

 the branches, equally firm and durable, with scarcely a.ny foot- 

 stalks, alternate, spreading every way, obliquely twisted, ovate, 

 not an inch long, many-ribbed, each tipped with a sharp point. 

 Fl. solitary, near the m'iddle of the upper side of each leaf, ap- 

 parently sessile, but their bracteated stalk is imbedded under the 

 cuticle, and runs down to the base of the leaf. Cal. pale green. 

 Nect. purplish. Berry the size of a Red Currant, scarlet, juicy 

 and sweetish. Seeds originally 6, but only 1 or 2 come to per- 

 fection. These are hard, white, semitransparent. Instead of 

 a leaflet, of considerable size, accompanying iht flower, in some 

 species, there is in this a small spine, or bristle, winged at the 

 base, besides 2 or 3 membranous bracteas, on the elongated 

 fruit-stalk. 

 The variety /3 has more extended and wavy branches, the leaves 

 rather elliptical than ovate, tapering at the base. It can scarcely 

 be considered as more than a variety, being itself liable to several 

 diff"erent appearances. 



