Scoparia dulcis L.

Sweet Broom; Licorice Weed; Goatweed

Herb

Annual

Vascular

Sweet Broom is a native herbaceous annual or short-lived perennial in the Plantain family (Plantaginaceae). Native to the Americas, Sweet Broom has now spread worldwide in tropical and subtropical areas. In Alabama it can be found in the southern third of the state. Sweet Broom occurs on sandbars, on dunes, along rivers and streams, in fields, and on roadsides. It is an annual with a taproot. The stems are erect, green in color, much branched, and glabrous. Plants are 1-3 feet tall. Leaves are opposite or in whorls of three, petiolate, rhomboid to elliptic in outline, with serrate margins. The leaves are glabrous and glandular punctate especially on the lower surface. Flowers are axillary. Each flower has a 4 lobed green calyx. The lobes of the calyx have ciliate margins. Each flower has 4 white petals, a ring of white hair-like filaments, and 4 stamens. The fruit is a capsule. Sweet Broom has been used in traditional medicine for the treatment of fever, cough, bronchitis, tooth ache, and diabetes. Brooms are made from the leafy stems of the plant to sweep homes under the impression that they repel insects, especially fleas.--A. Diamond

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Native FAC (NWPL)

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