Broom
Cytisus scoparius
The handle was the metaphor. The plant was always the point.
Overview
The witch's broomstick was not made from birch twigs tied to a hazel staff, as the image has it now. The older tradition is more specific: it was broom — Cytisus scoparius — bound to a handle, and broom was the plant that gave the implement its name. Besoms were made from broom long before they were used as symbols of anything, and when the symbolism came, broom carried it readily: a plant of heathland and poor soil, bright yellow in spring to the point of visual excess, associated in English heraldry with the Plantagenet dynasty (Planta genista — the broom plant — gave the dynasty its name), and used in flying ointments. The alkaloids in broom — sparteine and cytisine — have genuine cardiovascular and emetic effects that explain some of what the old ointments were said to do.
Botanical Notes
A vigorous, deciduous shrub reaching 1–2 metres with green, ridged, photosynthetic stems and small, often trifoliate leaves. Large, bright yellow, pea-shaped flowers from April to June, explosively releasing pollen when visited by insects. Pods ripen to black, splitting audibly in summer heat to scatter seeds. Found on acid, well-drained, sandy or gravelly soils — heathland, cliff edges, railway embankments, and woodland rides throughout Europe. Naturalised in North America and Australia, where it is considered invasive. Contains the alkaloids sparteine (antiarrhythmic, uterine-stimulating) and cytisine (nicotinic receptor agonist).
Lore & History
The Plantagenet kings of England took broom as their badge — the Latin name of the dynasty (Plantagenet, properly Planta genista) is simply the old name for broom, carried over from the Count of Anjou who wore a sprig of it in his cap. This gives broom an unusual distinction: a plant of heathland poor enough to grow on nothing, elevated to the emblem of a royal house. In folk magic, sweeping a house or threshold with broom drove out evil spirits — though sweeping outward, never inward, and never after dark, or you swept good fortune out along with the rest. Pliny the Elder recommended broom seed for dropsy. The Plantagenets had it on their coins. The cunning folk had it on their broomsticks. It has served a range of employers.
Warnings
The alkaloid sparteine is a cardiac antiarrhythmic at therapeutic doses and toxic in excess, causing tachycardia, hypotension, and respiratory depression. Avoid internal use without medical supervision. Cytisine, a nicotinic receptor agonist related in structure to nicotine, causes nausea, vomiting, and sweating in moderate doses. Both alkaloids cross the placenta — strictly avoid during pregnancy. Do not confuse with gorse (Ulex europaeus), which looks similar in flower but has no broom history, or with laburnum, which is acutely toxic.