Butchers Broom

Species Name: ruscus aculeatus.

Other Names by Which Butcher's Broom is Known: Butcher's Broom, Kneeholy, Knee Holly, Kneeholm, Jew's Myrtle, Sweet Broom, and Pettigree.

What is Butcher's Broom? Butcher's broom is a small-leafed evergreen bush that grows in the Mediterranean and northwest Europe.

A member of the lily family, Butcher's Broom is similar to asparagus in many ways.

The roots and young stems of butcher's broom are used medicinally.

Butcher's Broom was used to preserve smoke house meats, or hanged, preserved meats, from being eaten by mice, and also for the making of brooms.

Home Remedies using Butchers Broom:

Benefits of Butcher’s Broom:

Similar to diosgenin, a substance found in wild yam, ruscogenins decrease vascular permeability-which accounts for the anti-inflammatory activity of this herb.

Butcher's broom also causes small veins to constrict. Recent pharmacological findings indicate vasoconstrictive and anti-inflammatory properties of Butcher's Broom.

The saponins it contains constricts the veins and decreases the permeability of capillaries. Butcher's Broom is still considered useful to treat jaundice and gall stones.

Uses of Butcher’s Broom:

Butcher's Broom is used in the treatment of varicose veins and hemorrhoids. It is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent and is often used to shrink veins, treat jaundice and gall stones.

Ointments and suppositories including butcher's broom are typically used for hemorrhoids. These are often applied or inserted at night before going to bed.

Encapsulated butcher's broom extracts, often combined with vitamin C or flavonoids, can be used for systemic venous insufficiency in the amount of 1,000 mg three times per day.

If the raw herb is used, use two teaspoons of powdered root for each pint and a half of boiling water. It is to be boiled in a covered container for about thirty minutes, at a slow boil. 

Allow the liquid to steep until cool, in a closed container.  Drink this cold, two or three tablespoons, six times a day.

A decoction of the root is the usual form of administration. One pint of boiling water to one ounce of twigs, or a half ounce of the bruised fresh root has also been recommended as an infusion. 

This can be consumed as a tea.

A decoction of butcher's broom sweetened with honey, is said to clear the chest of phlegm and relieve difficult breathing.

Side Effects of Butcher’s Broom:

There are no significant side effects or problems if butcher's broom is used in the amounts listed here.