I have not tried to propragate this species from cuttings BUT since there are "nodes" along the stem I would say it can be done (its from these "nodes" that the roots will appear.) I would reduce the cutting to a tip cutting. apply 0.1 to 0.3% IBA (Rooting hormone) stick in well drained soil & mist

I have 6 stems of Ruscus from a bouquet from over 3 months ago. They are in water and now has what appears to be a single seed on the under side of each leaf. I think I can see roots beginning on the stem. I have researched this but can not determine which variety it is. I live in north Florida and would like to try and plant this. Could anyone please help with info.

Elderada1 - Ruscus produces berries. Possibly the 'seed' you can see is a flower bud?

I have a plant that grew from a bouquet steem. I didn't know what plant it was but it had roots like growing from the leaves. So I leave it in water for many month and then i planted and keep it indoor by a window that was 3 years ago I repotted today since it keeps growing

If you post a picture on The Name That Plant Forum we can probably identify it for you.

This is my Isreali Ruscus- from a bouquet about 2 years ago! Those "nodes" or "seeds" under the leaves have sprouted! I really want to figure out how to plant these! Any ideas???

Notice, no roots have sprouted from the bottom!

Are there some roots farther up?

I see what Tiffany is referring to, so are there any roots higher up? (mostly I just want to keep this thread active, not parroting Tiffany)

You folks have encouraged me to plant my fascinating ? years old remaining Israeli ruscus stem from a bouquet!!! I kept it in water and bright light and it is still green!!! My flower buds are either on top or on the underside of each leaf. I'm planting SOME of it out of curiosity!

I did t know what type of plant this was u till just an hour ago. Lol. i now have planted 2 stems in 2 different types of moist soil, 2 leaves placed in soil also... and one in water.

I did this before knowing anything about this plant. I looked up a few flower arrangements and pics, just to find out it is an is Israeli Ruscus. Then I found this feed... I'm happy I'm not the only one that has such a "curious green thumb" (my hubby laughed about my planting experiments, saying: "if it can be done, you will try") lol.

Now, I'm happy I started my own little plant experiments on the Ruscus ! Thanks for sharing your information. I will update you all later on how things turn out, with growing them and what method works best. (((Crossing fingers they grow, one way or another))))

oooh, I have also started (trying to) root dwarf "wild" plum branches & Rose branches. One could say I'm on an experimental journey??? I have successfully grown dwarf filipino clementines Oranges, I started last year. I now have over 20 new baby trees, in all.

Any of you, have updates on your plantings? Pics of ones that have survived?

Unfortunately, after a while, it did die... :( But I had it for about a year and a half! Pretty amazing for a cutting! How did you plant yours? Stem in the ground or, like, plant one of those leaves?

I got some from a trade with someone in HI years ago & stuck it in the ground @ my mom's house. It took root & is now a decent-size clump. This discussion reminded me that I wanted to propagate it, so I cut a couple of nice-looking pieces at the soil line and have put them in another spot in my yard. Hoping it goes as well this 2nd time.

@Tiffany, so you just planted it, stem in the ground, without rooting it in water? Did you have any of the leaves under the soil? Thank you! I hope this works!!!

Yes, straight into soil. Some of the leaves may have gotten buried when I did it, aiming to have the cut end about 4" below the surface in anticipation of another drought this summer. I just watered them a few minutes ago. One is as perky as if nothing had happened to it, the other is still leaned over, like it was when I stuck them in the ground. Best luck to our cuttings!

@Tiffany, That is awesome! Good luck! I’d love to see a picture of what they look like!

Hi, sorry if I missed it in the string, but the leaves being mentioned are modified stems, ( cladodes) this is why it appears that flowers /berries appear from the leaf blade. They are in effect from a stems, the leaves are tiny little 'spurs' below the stem blade.

Laura, I have walked outside with camera several times but got distracted pulling weeds, watering, something blooming, I'll keep trying. :)

Tiffany, thank you! :) That’s awesome!

This is hard to see, I need to take a pic at another time of day. The upright one looks even more perky & the wilty, leaning stem looks worse. It may have been too small & green. The other piece was 3x as big, and much older at the point where it was cut.

I'm not seeing roots yet, on any of the ones I have put in soil,

or water. But, it takes time.... I sure hope mine take root.

I hope both of y’all have good luck getting them to root!!

Me too! My 2 stems looked so good, the droopy one having perked up a little, I grabbed about a dozen more. At the slow rate of growth, that is necessary if I want an "instant shrub" as soon as a couple years from now. :)

Please excuse the cherry laurel sprouts. I can only pull about 100 per day. They are everywhere.

These stems are staying green and firm.

When you see those tiny roots forming where the flower/berry was mist them with water as you would an orchid. Small leaves will appear. Continue to mist and when the parent 'leaf' dies drop it with the baby plant onto damp soil and continue to mist as before. Eventually you will have a new plant which you can grow on as per Ruscus requirements.

So glad to have found this!! I like others received this greenery in a bouquet of flowers Oct 2018. After flowers expired this greenery remained alive so I stuck in water in my north facing window. This is Dec 2018 and greenery is still flourishing with little nodes appearing on top and bottom of leaves. It appears as if the nodes may open as flowers?? No roots on actual main stems at all....

Completely fascinated by this gem!

So glad to find this thread! Thanks to all above for sharing exactly what I have been thinking and doing myself! I am not alone!

I had some greenery left from a bouquet of flowers that I stuck in water. That was a year ago!!! The leaves had tiny blooms on the underside, but never developed roots. I thought it was time to stick them in the dirt. They are in a pot now, and I hope they grow.

Did it grow

I just discovered bumpy nodes at bottom of leaves, removied 3 to discover what looks like little black seeds. Is that possible? Stem in water near a small lamp since April this year i a bright sunny room.

Really glad to find this thread, I've been keeping this Ruscus stem from my sister in law's bouquet for almost 6 months, and now I notice that the leaves have kinda small nodes on the bottom side. I'm afraid to remove it from water to soil, but I really need to know what should I do to root the stem.

Mine are regrowing from the leaves I have many pictures to share but it will only let me share one photo. I have had these trimming since mothers day 2020 and its almost Christmas (to give an idea of how long its been) i just noticed this today. At first I thought they were parasites but I did thorough investigactions on them with magnifying glass/research etc. Its pretty miraculous! I'm thrilled!!

I have had my rescus in water since Valentine’s Day 2020. Almost a year. Mine too have tiny nodes on underside of leaves. Trying to determine if I should plant a stem or leaf with nodes in it

I, too, have these cuttings left over from a Christmas (2020) bouquet. They are happy in a glass of water (changed once or twice a week) and seem to be growing white 3/8" roots here and there in what I thought were the leaf/stem joints. Now I read that these are not leaves at all. I also have the tiny growths on the center undersides. I will try to make new end cuts and dip in root hormone, then pot in soil.

Did it work!? I just saw this thread and am stoked to try to plant mine!!!

Has anyone on this thread had luck successfully propagating these Ruscus trimmings?

Second that! Could someone please tell me how I should propagate these trimmings? I have one from a flower bouquet and it has started to grow flowers?stems? in the middle of the leaves. I don't see any roots so I'm not sure if I should just plant it in soil. What did you all do?

Esther, hi! There's a time capsule of information here. Start at the beginning and read through.

I'm another "green thumb" that kept the leaves in water since Valentine's day and they are doing the same thing. Just found out the name by searching the web. I have 5 stems that are all active. Thank you all for writing to help others of us:-)

I had stems of ruscus left over from a bouquet, as well--they'd stayed green in the water for months. When the nodes started "sprouting", I attempted to plant them in soil, even though I didn't see anything that really looked like roots. Once out of the water and into the soil, they died. More recently, I got another stem from another bouquet and just left it in water. Many of the "leaves" (cladodes) have bloomed with a little floral sprig (very much like Laura Billingsley's photo, above), so I considered just trying to bury a cladode with a good little cluster to see if the "sprout" would grow into a plant.

But according to this extremely helpful article https://laidbackgardener.blog/2021/10/29/strange-protuberances-on-a-leaf/, it's really just a flower bloom, and you can't propagate anything from flowers (I'd have WAY too many camellias in my garden, if this were possible!). According to the article, you just can't propagate Israeli ruscus from cuttings - you either have to have an actual plant and divide it, or you have to have seeds. I'll keep the cutting and see if anything else happens, but I think that to have any hope whatsoever, I'd have to get at least one of the cladodes to put out a berry, from which I could get seeds. Unfortunately, you really need male and female plants for that, so the chances are slim. But it's still cute!