Ruscus, commonly known as butcher's broom, is a genus of six species of flowering plants, native to western and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa, and southwestern Asia east to the Caucasus.

[7] In the Herbal of Simon Syreński, first published in 1613, the butcher's broom is described as a plant with healing power, for use in urinary retention, kidney stones, and accelerating menstruation, mainly in the form of a wine tincture.

[9] In the 1852 work Special Botany: Description of Monocotyledonous Medicinal and Industrial Plants by Ignacy Czerwiakowski, the author reported that the root of butcher's broom (radix Rusci v. Brusci) was formerly used as "an opening and diuretic agent in dropsy and blockages of the viscera", part of the herbal mixture radices quinque aperientes majores (five major opening roots), and also used in treating jaundice and kidney stones, and to accelerate menstruation.

The author also mentioned that the root of R. hypophyllum had medical applications, including in difficult births, retention of menstruation, and urinary system conditions.

[12] In Turkey, a decoction of the berries of Ruscus hypoglossum is used externally for boils and warts, and fresh leaves are used in cattle breeding against colds and mastitis.

Presently, butcher's broom is not widely used in modern medicine due to a lack of comprehensive clinical studies proving its effectiveness.

[11][12] These studies suggest the possibility of its future application in modern medicine, especially in diseases related to inflammation and oxidative stress.