• Image of Ruscus hypoglossum 'Mr. Lonely'||
  • Image of Ruscus hypoglossum 'Mr. Lonely'|Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC|JLBG

    Photo by JLBG taken at Juniper Level Botanic Gdn, NC

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Ruscus hypoglossum 'Mr. Lonely'

Mr. Lonely Spineless Butcher's Broom

This plant is not currently for sale. This is an archive page preserved for informational use.

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Item #: 3353

Zones: 7a to 9b, at least

Dormancy: Evergreen

Height: 15" tall

Culture: Light Shade to Shade

Origin: Western Europe

Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)


Ruscus hypoglossum 'Mr. Lonely' is a male clone of the European native shared by Alabama plantsman Hayes Jackson. For us, Ruscus hypoglossum makes a 15" tall x 3' wide (10 years) mass of evergreen stems clothed in stiff green cladodes (fake leaves), from whence emerge the miniature flowers in late winter. There are few plants better for dry shade and their deer resistance than the durable Ruscus hypoglossum and, to quote the late garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence, "It is one of the nicest low evergreens that I have found." I always assumed Ruscus hypoglossum to be marginally winter hardy in Zone 7b, but after seeing it in the Balkans growing in a climate comparable to Minneapolis, Minnesota, I'm rethinking that initial assessment. Unfortunately, with a native range from Western Europe to Iran, we are uncertain where this clone of Ruscus hypoglossum originated in the wild, so we are conservative in our zoning.