LlLIACEAE. 



Ruscus. Butcher's Broom. 

 ( Family Liliaceae ) . 



Shrubs, sometimes scrambling: 

 appearing to possess evergreen 

 foliage because of the peculiar 

 leaf-like branches. Stems green: 

 pith lacking, the wood "endoge- 

 nous" as in a corn-stalk. Buds 

 scarcely evident, developing im- 

 mediately into often pungent 

 striate leaf-like branches. Leaf- 

 scars lacking, the true leaves rep- 

 resented by peristent scales from 

 the axils of which the leaf-like 

 branches arise. On the backs or 

 margins of some of these, other 

 scales appear, and flowers are 

 borne in the axils of these. 



Except in greenhouses, Ruscus 

 is grown only in the warmer parts 

 of the world where some of the 

 species are sometimes used to 

 cover trellis-work. It illustrates 



the leaf-like branches called cladodia or cladophylls, familiar 

 in the Boston vine or "smilax" of florists. Though rarely 

 seen growing, it will be recognized (dyed red) as an occa- 

 sional component of Christmas decorations. 



Other examples of cladodia or phyllocladia are afforded by 

 Muhlenbeckia and Phyllanthus. A superficially comparable ap- 

 pearance of Helwingia results from the adnation of an in- 

 florescence-branch to the subtending leaf. 



1. Stems round: flowers dorsal on the flat branches. 2. 

 Stems deeply fluted: flowers marginal. R. androgynus. 



2. Stems smooth: cladophylls large. R. Hypoglossum. 

 Stems striate: leaf-like branches small. (1). R. aculeatus. 



