No. 81. RUT A. 75 



No. 81. RUTA GRAVEOLENS. 



Names. Common Rue- Fr* Rue vulgaire. 



Classif. 



Decandria mono- 



■ gynia L. 



Genus RuTA. Calyx four or five parted. Corolla 

 four or five concave petals. Stamens eight or ten. Pis- 

 til surrounded by eight or ten melliferous nectaries. 

 One style and stigma. Capsule four or five lobed, four 

 or five celled. 



Sp. Ruta graveolens^ L. Sufruticose, leaves decom- 

 pound, folioles oblong obtuse, the terminal obovate : 

 flowers dichotomous, octandrous, the central one decan- 

 drous, petals entire. 



DESCRIPTION. Root perennial. Stem shrubby at 

 the base, three to four feet high, branched, terete. 

 Leaves alternate, smooth, glaucous, decompound or bi- 



funnated and tripinnated, folioles sessile, unequal, ob- 

 ong, obtuse, and entire, the last foliole larger obovate. 

 Flowers yellow, in a terminal cynose and dichotome 

 panide. Petals large, rounded, entire, concave. Sta- 

 mens equal- Only one central flower, the first unfold- 

 ed has five petals and ten stamens j all the others have 

 four petals and eight stamens- 



HISTORY. This shrubby plant is a native of the 

 south of Europe and north Africa; it is cultivated in our 

 gardens, is become naturalized and even spontaneous 

 with us. It blossoms in summer. The whole plant has 

 a strong peculiar smell, almost fcctid when bruised, yet 

 there are some persons, chiefly females, who like it. 



PROPERTIES. A foetid oil, strongly impregnated 

 "" " ^ -als easily, and is 



almost corrosive, forms the active element of th'is plants 

 it is distilled from the whole plant when in blossom or 

 seeds. The leaves and their extract are also used j 

 their taste is acrid, bitterish, very penetrating and un- 

 orateful : yet some persons can eat the leaves as a relish, 

 while others are blistered by mere handling.^ They arc 

 anti-spasmodic, deobstruent, stimulant, heating, rubefa- 

 cient, and blistering, useful in spasmodic afFection>j 



