Ruscus aculeatus 26/4 Restock the bright fruit standing out

the bright fruit standing out cleanly against the deep foliage

In spring the branches hang with the classic fetterbush bells

and other acid-loving plants

a tidy structural signature that names the plant and sets the species apart from every common sunflower

mild day with fragrance and giving the shade garden a lift when little else stirs

Ruscus aculeatus 26/4 Restock the bright fruit standing outRuscus aculeatus, Butcher's Broom, is a low evergreen shrub of the asparagus family, native to the woodlands of southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East, and reaching north into the milder parts of the British Isles. What look like glossy, spine tipped leaves are not leaves at all but flattened stems called cladodes, which take over the work of photosynthesis while the true leaves are reduced to tiny scales. The generic name comes from