Broom was Re: [Sca-cooks] OOP: Praline recipes from La Varenne, part 2

[Terry Decker]

>At 03:29 PM 12/5/02 -0600, you wrote:
>>Can you provide me the genus and species of "American Broom?"  To my
>>knowledge all of the "brooms" in the U.S. are European imports and most,
if
>>not all, produce cytisine or ulexine which acts as a diuretic and in
>>quantity affects the heart in a manner similar to digitalis.
>>
>>Bear
>
>I'd be interested in this also- here on the Upper Left Coast there's a
>'Scotch Broom' planted all over in the freeway medians, etc. Rather pretty,
>but it is one of my biggest allergens in the spring and early summer.
>Rather sad, for a supporter of the House of Plantagenet, to be allergic to
>broom...
>
>'Lainie

As I recall, that is Cytisus scoparius.  The other two common ones are
French broom which is a Genista and Spanish broom which is a Spartium(?).
There are other members of the three genera which are referred to as
"brooms," but those are the big three and they are all of Old World origin.

Bear