Butcher's Broom - Knee Holly (Ruscus aculeatus)

Family: Ruscaceae | Edibility: Edible (1/5)

Ruscus aculeatus is an evergreen Shrub growing to 0.8 m (2ft 7in) by 1 m (3ft 3in) at a slow rate. See above for USDA hardiness. It is hardy to UK zone 7. It is in leaf all year, in flower from January to April, and the seeds ripen from August to March. The species is dioecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but only one sex is to be found on any one plant so both male and female plants must be grown if seed is required).

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Shoots

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring

Flavor & Culinary Uses

taste is pungent and rather bitter. — Young shoots - cooked.; They are harvested in the spring as they grow through the soil and used as an asparagus substitute.; The taste is pungent and rather bitter.; The roasted seed is a coffee substitute.

Habitat & North American Range

Outskirts of dry woods and in moist uncultivated ground especially on chalk. (Zone 6, Zone 7, Zone 8, Zone 9)