RUS'CUS ACULEA'TUS. 
PRICKLY BUTCHER’S BROOM. 
Class. 
DICECIA. 
Native of | Height. 
Flowers in 
Habit 
Inhabits 
England.) 2 feet. 
June, Dec. 
Shrub. 
thickets. 
No. 1200. 
The name Ruscus is mentioned by some authors 
as a corruption of Bruscus, and this again is sup- 
posed to have been a corruption of the Celtic name 
Beuskelen, which signifies Box-holly. Be this as it 
may, Pliny notices the plant as wild Myrtle, or 
Oxymyrsine, which, he says, is the Ruscus of Castor. 
How rarely we meet with a garden or shrubbery 
that has notsome unfertile spot; produced, perhaps, 
by unavoidable shade from buildings, or the drip of 
trees; a spot, the barren aspect of which the cultiva- 
tor gladly conceals, by placing about or before it, 
plants provided for the purpose, which often require 
renewal. In the Ruscus aculeatus we have a shrub, 
which seems to be unduly neglected, considering its 
gieat utility, tor under-growth amongst trees. In 
corners, and especially under the edges of large 
shiubs, where even a green turf cannot be continued, 
this Ruscus will be found most valuable. Its stems 
are but biennial, and yet as young stems rise annu- 
ally, and its leaves never drop off, being an expan- 
sion only of the stem itself, it is always alike bright 
and green. 
As all our evergreen shrubs appear to unobser- 
Order. 
monadelphia. 
Natural Order. 
LILIACEiE. 
