Broom, And Broom-Rape

Cytisus scoparius

HRB-0049Entry “BROOM, AND BROOM-RAPE” in the 1850 textIn Culpeper’s 1652 first edition

Open in the Concordance

Old claims, quoted verbatim: not medical advice. A warning sits above the claims and never hides them; no warning does not mean safe, only that no source here has flagged the plant.

Substance of concernSparteine acts on the heart and the womb: not with heart disease or high blood pressure, and not in pregnancy.EFSA: ammodendrine, lupanine, sparteineEFSA’s list of substances, not a danger rating. Checked 26 October 2026.

What it does, in Culpeper: Makes you vomit

Culpeper’s claims about it: 11, under 11 headings, 1 where he says it harms or causes

  1. AguesCLM-000014
    it also helps surfeit, and alters the fit of agues, if three or four ounces thereof, with as much of the water of the lesser Centaury, and a little sugar put therein, be taken a little before the fit comes, and the party be laid down to sweat in his bed.
    QUO-000014Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  2. DropsyCLM-000667
    whereby it helps the dropsy, gout, sciatica, and pains of the hips and joints;
    QUO-000533Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  3. JaundiceCLM-001002
    The continual use of the powder of the leaves and seed doth cure the black jaundice.
    QUO-000756Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  4. Liver (Culpeper says it harms)CLM-001165
    As for the Broom and Broom-rape, Mars owns them, and is exceeding prejudicial to the liver, I suppose by reason of the antipathy between Jupiter and Mars;
    QUO-000832Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  5. StoneCLM-0016821850 index
    it also provokes strong vomits, and helps the pains of the sides, and swelling of the spleen, cleanses also the reins or kidneys and bladder of the stone, provokes urine abundantly, and hinders the growing again of the stone in the body.
    QUO-001099Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  6. SurfeitsCLM-001760
    it also helps surfeit, and alters the fit of agues, if three or four ounces thereof, with as much of the water of the lesser Centaury, and a little sugar put therein, be taken a little before the fit comes, and the party be laid down to sweat in his bed.
    QUO-000014Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  7. SwellingsCLM-001777
    it also provokes strong vomits, and helps the pains of the sides, and swelling of the spleen, cleanses also the reins or kidneys and bladder of the stone, provokes urine abundantly, and hinders the growing again of the stone in the body.
    QUO-001099Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  8. Tooth-acheCLM-001851
    The oil or water that is drawn from the end of the green sticks heated in the fire, helps the tooth-ache.
    QUO-001177Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  9. UlcersCLM-001912
    The juice thereof is a singular good help to cure as well green wounds, as old and filthy sores and malignant ulcers.
    QUO-001207Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  10. VomitCLM-002025
    it also provokes strong vomits, and helps the pains of the sides, and swelling of the spleen, cleanses also the reins or kidneys and bladder of the stone, provokes urine abundantly, and hinders the growing again of the stone in the body.
    QUO-001099Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance
  11. WoundsCLM-002165
    The juice thereof is a singular good help to cure as well green wounds, as old and filthy sores and malignant ulcers.
    QUO-001207Papers and the EMA’s verdict, in the Concordance

Source

Nicholas Culpeper, The Complete Herbal, a new edition (London: Thomas Kelly, 1850). Project Gutenberg eBook #49513. SRC-CUL-1850

Quotations are verbatim from the 1850 text, line breaks joined. Modern research and the European regulator’s verdict on each claim are on the Concordance page, kept apart from this historical record.