Butcher’s Broom

Ruscus aculeatus
The herbal nomenclature is complicated by the fact that many herbal plants are called by the common name of broom; this indefinite and very common name clutters the entire range of herbal nomenclature and makes it hard to name specific plants. Compounding the difficulty with common names is the fact that the moniker broom originally referred to several plants sharing a specific morphology, like the rigid leaves and tough stems – making them ideal for sweeping up debris aside from their herbal uses. The plant known as the Cytisus scoparius L., which is a very common plant distinguished by showy yellow flowers and found growing along the roadsides in the Pacific Northwest is normally identified with the name broom when this word is used without any qualifying adjective.