Rue Ruta graveolens

LATIN NAME: Ruta graveolens

COMMON NAME: Rue

The rue is the blue-green herb of the old gardens, and the small, yellow flowers open in the loose heads above the finely cut leaves. The evergreen or semi-evergreen, bushy, perennial herb carries the strongly aromatic, bluish-green, finely divided leaves and the loose, flat heads of the small, yellow, four-petalled flowers through the summer, one of the fine, quiet sights of the herb garden. The plant has a very long record in the old practice of the warm lands, and the sap can mark the bare skin in the bright sun. It is a plant of the open, sunny, sharp-draining ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The rue is a historic subject of the plant science, and the blue-green leaves keep showing up in the work on the aromatic herbs. The chemistry of the leaves, which carry the fine, bitter oils and the photo-reactive compounds of the old records, has been studied at length, and it keeps appearing in the studies of the aromatic herbs, the rue family and the members of the rue family. The finely divided leaves and the bushy habit have also made it a fine study plant, and the rue is a regular subject of the work on the blue-green herbs of the dry world.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The rue is a fine, historic herb of the old garden and the study collection. The strongly aromatic, bluish-green, finely divided leaves give the fine, blue-green mound of the plant, one of the fine, quiet sights of the herb garden, and the loose, flat heads of the small, yellow, four-petalled flowers open through the summer, drawing the bees. The plant has a very long record in the old practice of the warm lands, and it is one of the fine choices for the herb garden, the dry bed and the study collection, best handled with the gloves in the bright weather. It has been written up in the botanical and the herbal papers for the blue-green leaves and the very long history, and it is a fine, historic herb of the open, sunny, sharp-draining garden.

Give the young plant the open, sunny spot and the gloves for the weeding in the bright weather.

To grow the rue from seed, sow the small, black seeds a centimetre down in a tray of fine, gritty soil, keep the tray in a bright, open spot and water gently, then set the young plants out in the open ground. The seedlings come up in their own good time and grow on steadily. With the sun and the sharp-draining ground, the blue-green mound will hold through the years.

Pungent bitter leaves used sparingly in stews, salads, sandwiches and vegetable juice. Two chewed will quickly relieve nervous headache. In early times judges relied on fresh sprigs of rue to repel fleas brought into court by prisoners.