Butcher's Broom Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Butcher's Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) is a low evergreen shrub of the asparagus family, Asparagaceae, native to woodland and rocky scrub across western and southern Europe, the Mediterranean, and North Africa. It grows 30 to 80 centimeters in stiff, dark green clumps; what look like small, leathery, spine-tipped leaves are actually flattened stems, called cladodes, and the tiny greenish flowers and later the glossy red berries sit oddly in the middle of their upper surface. Butchers once bound the prickly branches into brushes to scrub their blocks, which gave the English name. The rhizome is thick, knotted, and pale. We extract the dried root.