Ruscus aculeatus is remarkable as being Britain’s only monocotyledonous shrub. Perhaps equally remarkable is this plants ability to thrive in deep forest shade on poor, dry sandy soils. A true native, but which looks very exotic.
Very common in the New Forest and the south coast of Devon & Cornwall. Elsewhere in the south-west it is quite rare. It is also quite rare to see the red berries on the plant. It is (usually) dioecious with male and female flowers on separate plants, and where a single plant is isolated from the others it never gets to sexually reproduce, and thus continues to reproduce asexually via root suckers.
