R U S 
fown in autumn foon after they are ripe, for thofe 
feeds which are fown in the fpring rarely grow the 
fame year : when the plants come up, they will re- 
quire no other care but to thin them where they are 
too clofe, and keep them clean from weeds. They 
all delight in a moift rich foil. 
The thirteenth fort is commonly known among the 
gardeners by the title of Sorrel-tree. This came 
originally from the Fortunate, or Canary Iflands, but 
has been long an inhabitant in feme Engliih gardens •, 
it rifes with a ligneous ftalk ten or twelve feet high, 
covered with a fmooth brown bark, fending out ma- 
ny (lender branches •, thefe are garnifhed with fmooth, 
roundifti, heart-lhaped leaves two inches long, and 
an inch and a half broad, Handing alternately upon 
pretty long foot-ftalks. The flowers come out in 
loofe panicles toward the end of the branches *, they 
are of an herbaceous colour, and are fometimes fuc- 
ceeded by triangular feeds with fmooth covers, but 
they rarely ripen in England. This plant is eafily 
propagated by cuttings, which may be planted in any 
of the fummer months, in a bed of loamy earth, and 
fhaded from the fun until they have taken pretty good 
root •, then they fhould be taken up, and planted in 
pots filled with kitchen-garden earth, placing them 
in the (hade till they have taken new root ; after which 
they may be moved to a flickered fituation, and placed 
with other hardy green-houfe plants till autumn, when 
they mud be removed into the green-houfe, and 
treated in the fame way as other hardy kind of plants, 
which only want protedlion from froft. 
The fourteenth fort is a low annual plant, which 
grows naturally in Italy and Spain ; this is generally 
found on fwampy moift ground ; the (talks are (len- 
der, branching at the bottom, and rife about four 
inches high •, the lower part is garnifhed with fmall, 
oval, fucculent lobes ; their upper part is furniftied 
with fmall herbaceous flowers growing in whorls, and 
have no leaves between them •» they are fucceeded by 
fmall feeds, whofe covers are fharply indented and re- 
flexed. Thefe appear in June, and the feeds ripen 
in Auguft, which, if permitted to fcatter, will fur- 
nifti a fupply of young plants the following fpring ; 
or if the ieeds are then fown, the plants will come up 
the following fpring, and require no other care but to 
thin them, and keep them clean from weeds. 
The fifteenth fort is an annual plant ; this hath pretty 
thick fucculent (talks, which rife a foot high, and di- 
vide into many branches ■, the leaves are of the round 
heart-ftiape and undivided, having very long foot- 
ftalks. The flowers grow in loofe fpikes at the end 
of the branches •, thefe are herbaceous, and are fuc- 
ceeded by large covers to the feeds, which are in- 
flated, and have broad membranaceous borders j the 
feeds are triangular, and ripen in autumn. 
The fixteenth fort grows, naturally in Egypt ; this is 
alfo an annual plant, whofe (talks rife a foot and a 
half high, dividing upward into feveral branches ; the 
(talks are garnifhed with arrow-pointed leaves about 
three inches long, whofe Tides are irregularly torn, 
as if they had been gnawed by infedls ; they ftand 
upon pretty long foot-ftalks, and have fmooth fur- 
faces the flowers are difpofed in loofe fpikes ; fome 
fpikes have only male flowers, and others have all 
hermaphrodite flowers, and fome plants have only 
male, and others hermaphrodite flowers. The latter 
are fucceeded by triangular feeds, inclofed in large 
inflated covers of a deep red colour, having mem- 
branaceous borders. The feeds of this ripen in 
autumn. 
The feeds of both thefe forts grow very freely, if 
fown in a bed of light earth in the fpring, where the 
plants are defigned to remain. When they come up, 
they will require no other care but to keep them 
clean from weeds, and thin them where they are too 
clofe. 
RUSCUS. Tourn. In ft. R. H. 79. tab. 15. Lin. 
Gen. Plant. 1008. [fo called of rufticus, becaufe 
rough and prickly. It is alfo called Laurus, becaufe 
fit for the making, of Laurel garlands •> and. Alexan- 
R U S 
china, from one of the forts growing in Alexandria.] 
Knee-holly, or Butcher’s-broom ; in French Houx- 
frelon. 
The Characters are. 
It hath male and female flowers in diftinbl plants \ the 
male flowers have erebt fpreading empalements , compofed 
of fix oval convex leaves , whofe borders are reflexed 
they have no petals , but have an oval neblarium the Jize 
of the empalement, which is erebt and inflated , opening 
at the mouth ■, they have no flamina , but each has three 
fpreading fummit a, fitting on the top of the nebt t arium, 
which are joined at their bafe. The female flowers have 
empalements but no petals, and neblariums like the male : 
they have no flamina , but have an oblong oval germen hid 
within the nebiarium , fupporting a cylindrical ftyle , crown- 
ed by an obtufe fligma , fianding above the mouth of the, 
nebiarium. The germen afterward becomes a globular 
berry with two or three cells , inclofing two globular feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the twelfth iedtion 
of Linnaeus’s twenty-fecond clafs, which contains 
the plants which are male and female in diftindt 
plants, and the (lamina or fummits are joined to- 
gether. 
The Species are, 
1. Rtrscus ( Aculeatus ) foliis fupra floriferis midis. Hart, 
Cliff. 465. Rufus with leaves which bear flowers on their 
upper fide , and are naked. Rufcus myrtifolius aculea- 
tus. Tourn. Inft. 79. Knee-holly , or Butcher* s-broom, 
with prickly Myrtle leaves. 
2. Ruscus ( Hypophyllum ) foliis fubtus floriferis nudis. 
Hort. Cliff. 465. Rufcus with leaves which bear flowers 
cn the under fide of the leaves , which are naked. Rufcus 
latifolius, frudtu folio innafcente. Tourn. Inft. 79. 
Butcher* s-broom with broad leaves , upon which the fruit 
grows. 
3.. Ruscus ( Hypoglcjfum ) foliis fubtus floriferis fub foli- 
olo. Hort. Cliff. 465. Rufcus with flowers under the 
leaves. Rufcus anguftifolius, frudtu folio innafcente. 
Tourn. Inft. 79. Butcher* s-broom with narrow leaves , 
and fruit fitting upon the leaves. 
4. Ruscus ( Racemofus ) racemo terminali hermaphrodi- 
tico. Hort. Cliff. 469. Rufcus with hermaphrodite 
flowers in long bunches terminating the flalks. Rufcus 
anguftifolius, frudtu fummis ramulis innafcente. 
Tourn. Inft. 79. Butcher* s-broom with narrow leaves , 
and fruit growing at the top of the branches. 
5. Ruscus ( Trifoliatum ) foliis ternis ovatis acuminatis* 
fupra floriferis nudis. Rufcus with oval acute-pointed 
leaves which are placed by threes , and flowers on their up- 
per fide. 
6 . Ruscus ( Flexuofus ) foliis ovatis acuminatis, fupra 
floriferis nudis, caulibus fiexuofis. Rufcus with acute- 
pointed leaves bearing flowers cn their upper fide , and flex- 
ible flalks. Rufcus latifolius major frudtu folio inna- 
fcente. Michel. Greater broad-leaved Rufcus with fruit 
fitting upon the leaf. 
7. Ruscus ( Androgynus ) foliis margine floriferis. Hort. 
Cliff. 464. Rufcus with flowers growing on the borders of 
the leaves. Rufcus latifolius e foliorum finu florifer 
& frudkifer. Hort. Elth. 532. tab. 250. Broad-leaved 
Rufcus , with flowers and fruit growing on the edges of the 1 : 
leaves. 
8. Ruscus ( Frutefcens ) caule fruticofo ramofo, foliis lan- 
ceolatis rigidis, floribus pedunculatis terminalibus. 
Rufcus with a Jhrubby branching flalk, fpear-fhaped ftijf 
leaves , and flowers growing upon foot-ftalks terminating 
the branches. Rufcus latifolius frutefcens, floribus ra- 
cemofis rubris. Houft. MSS. Shrubby broad-leaved 
Rufcus , with branching red flowers. 
The firft fort is very common in the woods in divers 
parts of England, and is rarely cultivated in gar- 
dens. The roots of this kind are fometimes ufed in 
medicine, and the green (hoots are cut, bound into 
bundles, and fold to the butchers, who u(e it as be- 
foms to fweep their blocks, from whence it had the 
name of Butcher’s-broom. It is alfo called by fome 
Knee-holly. 
This hath roots compofed of many thick white fi- 
bres, which ftrike deep in the ground, and twine 
about each other, from which arife feveral (tiff green 
4. flalks, 
