LlLIACEAE. 



Rusous. 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 

 \\ .^-*f^ tne axils of which the leaf-like 

 IS^tf W/w^P^' Drancnes arise. On the backs or 



VwJ ^J/0/ margins of some of these, other 



rrW^i^^^^KV scales appear, and flowers are 



]^^^S^^^fy\ borne in the axils of these. 



=3F|jjl 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- 

 earance 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. 



