Butcher

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Butcher (Latin Ruscus) - a small genus of unpretentious dwarf shrubs, which has only six species. They attract attention with the unusual appearance of the branches, which are more like the usual plant leaves. While true leaves are represented by subulate small scales. Butcher's flowers are inconspicuous, but after pollination they manage to turn into bright berries.

What's in your name

Quite often, the Latin name for plants is based on Greek words. Butcher, or in Latin - Ruscus, is knocked out of the standard, based on the Anglo-Saxon word, which in Russian sounds like "box".

The Russian name "Iglitsa", given to the plant for its subulate leaves, scales, has a competitor, who for the small size of flowers that appear in the world from the axils of these thorny scales, the plant is called "Mouse thorn".

It should be noted that the genus "Ruscus" (or Iglitsa) did not immediately fall into the Asparagus family, but was first assigned to the Liliaceae family.

Description

The evergreen shrub has an irregular stem that, at a casual glance from a layperson, can be mistaken for the leaves of a plant. Botanists call such stems "cladodia" or "flat branches".

Close inspection reveals the true leaves of the plant, which have the appearance of subulate scales, on the surface or along the edge of such leaf-like stems. It is in their sinuses that small flowers appear, white with a dark purple center. Since the scales are very small, it seems that the flowers appear directly on the flat stems.

After pollination, in place of the female flowers, fleshy red berries up to one centimeter in size are born. In one of the species of the genus, the berries are edible.

Varieties

* Butcher's broom (Latin Ruscus aculeatus) is an evergreen shrub that grows in our Crimea and Krasnodar Territory. On erect branched stems there are small oval cladodia, armed with spiny tips. Greenish flowers are born on the surface of the cladodia, turning into red fleshy berries by the end of autumn. The branches of the bush are used for harvesting brooms, and therefore the plant is also called "Butcher's Broom" or "Executioner's Broom".

* Butchery hypophyllum or sub-leaf (Latin Ruscus hypophyllum) - this species is not protected by thorns, and therefore its cladodia are used for cutting into bouquets.

* Butchery hypoglossum (Latin Ruscus hypoglossum) - cladodia of this species are not armed with thorns. Small red berries are replacing the greenish-yellow inconspicuous flowers that appear in the world in spring. Shade-tolerant look.

* Butchery microglossum (Latin Ruscus x microglossum) is a root-sprouting plant with erect or ascending stems. It is a hybrid of the two previous species.

* Buttock racemose (Latin Ruscus racemosus) is a branched shrub with short curved stems. Small green cladodes with orange-red berries on their glossy surface complement flower bouquets well.

Growing

Butchery prefers heat, but can withstand frosts of at least 20 degrees. Therefore, in areas with more severe winters, the plant is grown as indoor plants. But Iglitsa hypophyllum (Ruscus hypophyllum) does not like any frosts, give her only a warm climate.

For a plant, the composition of the soil is not so important as its moisture. This applies only to the first years of life. As they mature, shrubs tend to dry soil. Excessive dampness causes fungal root diseases. In addition to insidious fungi, the weevil-mowing weevil is dangerous for the plant, along with its offspring, the larvae.

The place for Iglitsa is suitable for both sunny and shaded.

Reproduction

Sowing seeds is carried out in the fall, planting in a prepared place in the open field in the spring. Also in the spring you can propagate by dividing the overgrown bush. Before planting, the soil is fertilized with organic matter.

Seedlings are watered in spring, adding mineral fertilizer to the water once a month.