CULINARY HERBS I23 



it ''hangs only by its eyelids" to our pharmacopoeia. 

 Apicus notes it among the condiments in the third 

 century, and Magnus elej^'en centuries later praises 

 it among the garden esculents. At present it is 

 little used for seasoning, even by the Italians and 

 the Germans, and almost not at all by English and 

 American cooks. Probably because of its acridity 

 and its ability to blister the skin when much handled, 

 rue has been chosen by poets to express disdain. 

 Shakespeare speaks of it as the "sour herb of grace," 

 and Theudobach says : 



"When a rose is too haughty for heaven's dew- 

 She becometh a spider's gray lair ; 

 And a bosom, that never devotion knew 

 Or affection divine, shall be filled with rue 

 And with darkness, and end with despair." 



Description. — The much branched stems, woody be- 

 low, rise 18 to 24 inches and bear small oblong or 

 obovate, stalked, bluish-green glaucous leaves, two 

 or three times divided, the terminal one broader and 

 notched at the end. The rather large, greenish- 

 yellow flowers, borne in corymbs or short terminal 

 clusters, appear all summer. In the round, four or 

 five-lobed seed vessels are black kidney-shaped 

 seeds, which retain their vitality two years or even 

 longer. The whole plant has a very acrid, bitter 

 taste and a pungent smell. 



Cultivation. — The plant may be readily propagated 

 by means of seed, by cuttings, by layers, and by 

 division of the tufts. No special directions are 

 needed, except to say that when in the place they 

 are to remain the plants should be at least 18 inches 



