Ruscus is a genus of six species of flowering plants, native to western and southern Europe (north to southern England), Macaronesia, northwest Africa, and southwestern Asia east to the Caucasus. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). Like many lilioid monocots, it was formerly classified in the family Liliaceae. Ruscus is spread by seed and by means of underground rhizomes and it can colonise extensive patches of ground.