Spring Scotch Broom Hillside Highland Perthshire Scotland

Tour Scotland Spring 4K travel video of Scotch Broom on a hillside on visit to the Highlands of Perthshire. Cytisus scoparius, the common broom or Scotch broom, Sarothamnus scoparius, is a perennial leguminous shrub native to western and central Europe. In Britain, England and Ireland, the standard name is broom. In Welsh mythology, Blodeuwedd is the name of a woman made from the flowers of broom, meadowsweet and the oak by Math fab Mathonwy and Gwydion to be the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Her story is part of the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, the tale of Math son of Mathonwy. Broom was also used in a decorated bundle of broom at weddings in place of rosemary when that was scarce, and its strong smell was said to be able to tame wild horses and dogs. Broom contains scoparin, which is a diuretic. In Italy, the shrub was burnt to stop witches. The plant also is used as a cathartic and as a cardiac stimulant which is credited to the presence of sparteine. A decoction or infusion of broom can be used to treat dropsy due to its diuretic action. An ointment can be made from the flowers to treat gout. Oxysparteine, produced from the action of acid on the sparteine, is useful as a cardiac stimulant and has the advantage over digoxin that it does not accumulate in the body.

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