If deadheaded and fertilized lightly, they may bloom a second time. Plants flower in their second year in midsummer. Sow seeds indoors in late winter and transplant seedlings to the garden in late spring. Rue is easily grown from seed, though slow to germinate. Rue is hardy in Zones 4 to 10, grows in sun but tolerates part shade, and grows best in a well-drained good soil of pH 7.0. Native to southern Europe, the plant is evergreen in warm climates, but in colder areas, the top dies back to the ground in winter. It has blue-green, oval-lobed leaflets with a whitish bloom neat habit and strange, tiny yellow four-parted flowers from midsummer to fall. Interestingly, country folk used to apply crushed rue leaves to bee stings and rheumatic joints.ĭespite rue’s long history as a medicinal and culinary herb, it is grown today primarily as an ornamental.
It makes sense to wear gloves, a long-sleeved shirt and long pants when working around rue plants. In addition to causing possible internal toxicity, contact with rue’s volatile leaf oils may cause blistering, itching and burning of the skin. Needless to say, pregnant women should not take it internally. Rue has been used in many cultures to bring on delayed menstrual periods and abortions, and several of its constituents have been shown to have abortive properties. Nevertheless, some medicinal uses have a scientific basis: rutin, a substance known to be effective in combating fragility of the capillaries, was first isolated from common rue, and the herb’s use as an antispasmodic agent has been touted by the German Commission E Monographs. The fibrous roots of this herb reminded some people of the blood vessels in the eye, which may account for its use as an eyestrain treatment. It’s likely that rue’s reputation as a medicinal herb arose because of its strong smell and bitter flavor. Warts, cancer, poor eyesight, worms, scarlet fever and nervousness as a result of witchcraft are a few of the conditions that rue has been summoned to treat. Not only does a little go a long way because of the bitterness, but more than a little is toxic, causing gastrointestinal and other symptoms similar to some of those for which it was given as a remedy. Rue still figures in the diet of some cultures.
Courtrooms in England were strewn with rue to protect the judges from “jail fever.” Today, both the herb and the oil are used as a “flavor component” of a wide variety of processed foods and beverages, though in minute quantities. Holding a sprig up to one’s nose was thought to ward off plague, and a sprig hung around the neck was thought to protect against disease as late as the mid-19th century. In the Middle Ages, the leaves were a strewing herb believed to dispel insects, scorpions and serpents. The seeds were used in early Roman cooking. Nevertheless, the oil and fresh or dried leaves have been widely used in perfumes and foods of all sorts.
Using Common Rueīesides a musty odor, rue leaves have a bitter flavor.
Whether rue’s odor is either strong or offensive is open to debate usually, it’s described as “musty.” Ruta is the genus belonging to the family Rutaceae, members of which include aromatic citrus trees as well as gas plant ( Dictamnus albus), a lovely white- or pink-flowered perennial. (Some believe that the word Ruta comes from a Greek word meaning “to set free.”) The specific name, graveolens, is Latin for “having a strong or offensive smell” (dill is Anethum graveolens). When Anglicized and shortened to “rue,” the name sounded just like the word meaning “sorrow,” but that word comes from an Old English word, hreow. When the Romans introduced the rue herb plant to England, they called it by its Latin name (now the generic name), Ruta. Rue is associated with sorrow, regret and compassion only in the English language. (Hyssop was the herb of choice in the Middle Ages, but rue was also used, perhaps because of its long-standing reputation as a disinfectant.) The custom derived from a Roman ceremony (using a laurel branch) to purify weapons and standards following a battle. It’s also known as herb of grace, or herbygrass, from its use in the early Roman Catholic Church to sprinkle holy water and wash away sins.
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