RESEDA. 



ous fegments, than the foregoing. Otherwife their parts 

 of fruQification do not much differ. The number oijlyles, 

 and of fegments of the calyx, varies in both, according to 

 luxuriance. The leaflets of alba are more numerous, as 

 well as more equal in lize, than in frutlculofa, nor is the 

 terminal one larger than the reft. Sometimes their edges are 

 roughifh. Dr. Sibthorp obferved, that the whole herb, and 

 alfo the bruifed feed, were ufed in Zante to dye filk yellow. 

 9. R. undata. Wave-leaved Bafe Rocket. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 644. Willd. n. 9. Ait. n. 8. (R. decurfiva ; Forik. 

 iEo-ypt-Arab. cat. 66. R. minor alba, dentatis foliis ; 

 Barrel. Ic. t. 588.) — Leaves pinnate, wavy. Styles three 

 to five. Petals unequally cut. — Native of Spain. Culti- 

 vated by Miller, at Chelfea, in 1739. A hardy perennial, 

 flowering in fummer. The Jlems are ereft, branched, 

 ftraight "and wand-like, one to two feet high. Leaves un- 

 equally pinnate, very much crifped, or wavy. Flowers 

 fmaller than in either of the laft, and of a lefs pure white, 

 compofing very long clujlers, or rather /piles, for each 

 flower is nearly feffile ; the lower ones very remote. Some 

 of the petals appear, by the dried fpecimens, to have three, 

 others live, obtufe fegments, of which the lateral ones are 

 broadeft. We have great doubts, whether the fpecimen 

 from which Linnaeus took his remark of the great fize of 

 the capfules, really belongs to this fpecies. 



10. R. lutea. Yellow Bafe Rocket, or Wild Migno- 

 nette. Linn. Sp. PI. 645. Willd. n. 10. Ait. n. 9. 

 Fl. Brit. n. 2. Engl. Bot. t. 321. Jacq. Auftr. t. 353. 

 Bulliard. t. 281. (R. Plinii ; Ger. Em. 277.)— All the 

 leaves three-cleft ; the lower ones pinnate. Petals fix, 

 very unequal. Calyx in fix fegments. — Native of dry 

 chalky hills in the temperate and fouthern countries of 

 Europe ; abundant in the chalky parts of England, flower- 

 ing from June to the end of autumn. The root, generally 

 annual with us, often furvives a mild winter. Stems fpread- 

 ing, branched, leafy, a foot or more in height. Leaves 

 tapering at the bafe ; fome of them with only one pair of 

 lateral leaflets ; others with many, which are occafionally 

 fubdivided ; all the leaflets, or fegments, are linear, chan- 

 nelled, more or lefs wavy ; frequently very much criiped 

 or curled. Such is the variety, mentioned as a fpecies, by 

 Dillenius, in Raii Syn. 366, as R. crifpa gal/iea, Bocc. 

 Sic. 77. t. 41. f. 3 ; but we have often fufpe&ed, that 

 Boccone's plant might be the undata. It is hazardous, 

 however, to depend much on fuch imperfeft materials as he 

 affords. The jlo-wers are numerous, fulphur-coloured, 

 flightly, and not agreeably, odorous ; their two upper 

 petals with two fan-like lateral lobes, and a fhort linear one 

 between ; two lateral petals very unequally and varioufly 

 three-cleft ; two lower ones narrow, and almoft iimple. 



11. R. Pbyteuma. Scentlefs Mignonette. Linn. Sp. 

 PI. 645. Willd. n. 11. Ait. 11. 10. Jacq. Aultr. t. 132. 

 (Refedae affinis Phyteuma ; Bauh. Prodr. 42. Erucago 

 apula, trifida et quinquefolia ; Column. Ecphr. 267. t. 269. 

 f. 2.) — Leaves undivided, or three-lobed. Calyx in fix, 

 very large, obovate fegments. Petals four, more or lefs 

 pectinated. — Native of the fouth of Europe and north of 

 Africa. On the walls of Rome it is very common, and 

 having a general refemblance, without the fragrance, of our 

 garden mignonette, it has given rife to a report of that 

 charming flower being deftitute of fcent in Italy ! Miller 

 cultivated R. Pbyteuma at Chelfea, where it ftill fprings up 

 annually in the garden. The root is long and tapering. 

 Stems very numerous, a fpan high, condoling a large 

 rprcading tuft. Leaves broadiih, tapering at the bafe ; 

 fome of them fimply obovate ; others with a pair ot later..! 

 lobes. Flowers cream-coloured, in lax Iimple clutters. 

 Calyx very much enlarged, and reflexed, after flowering. 



Petals four ; the lower pair, in particular, elegantly pefti- 

 nated at one fide ; but all of them are liable to vary, in 

 the number and depth of their fegments. Fruit pendulous, 

 obovate, angular. Styles three. 



12. R. mediterranea. Mediterranean Mignonette. Linn. 

 Mant. 564. Willd. n. 12. Ait. n. 11. Jacq. Coll. 

 v. 1. 147. Ic. Rar. t. 475. — Leaves flat, undivided, or 

 three-lobed. Calyx much flu rter than the corolla. Petals 

 fix, very unequal. — Native of Paleftine, according to Lin- 

 naeus, who received it from Sehreber. Dr. Sibthorp met 

 with it in corn fields in the iflands of the Archipelago. 

 This is a hardy annual, flow-. •'< fummer long, agree- 

 ing very much in appearance with the laft, but ftill more 

 with the following. The jlotners have no tcent. Tiieir 

 petals are iix, molt refembling thofe of R. lutea in figure, 

 but white, not yellow. The leaves are broader, and lefs 

 divided, than in lutea, as well as quite flat ; they vary how- 

 ever greatly in breadth, but are never undulated. The 

 calyx is fhort, never enlarged like that of R. Pbyteuma. 



13. R. odorata. Sweet Mignonette. Linn. Sp. PI. 

 646. Willd. r. 13. Ait. n. 12. Mill. Ic. t. 217. Curt. 

 Mag. t. 29. — Leaves flat ; undivided, or three-lobed. Calyx 

 equal to the corolla. Segments of the petals all very deep, 

 fomewhat fpatulate. — Native <.l Egypt. Well known 

 throughout the gardens of Europe, as a hardy annual, 

 blooming all the year round, if properly flickered, and ex- 

 haling from its neat unoltentatious flowers, a moil delici- 

 ous fcent, refembling that of the vine-bloffom, or the fruit 

 of the rafpberrv. This odour -•emains long in wooden boxes, 

 where the flowers are dried. The petals are of a pale buff, 

 prettily contrafted with the red anthers, and, as Jacquin ob- 

 ferves, in defcribing the laft, they differ from that in their 

 uniform, long, wedge-fhaped, or fpatulate fegments. 



Reseda, in Gardening, contains a plant of the flower- 

 ing fweet-fcented kind, of which the fpecies cultivated is, 

 the fweet refeda, or mignonette (R. odorata). 



Mr. Curtis obferves, that the luxury of the pleafure- 

 garden is greatly heightened by the delightful odour which 

 this plant diffufes ; and as it grows more readily in pots, 

 its fragrance may be conveyed into the houfe : its perfume, 

 though not fo refrefhing perhaps as that of the fweet-briar, 

 is not apt t« offend the molt delicate olfactories. 



Method of Culture. — This is railed from feed, which 

 fhould be fown on a moderate hot-bed in March, and when 

 the plants are ftrong enough to tranlplant, be pricked out 

 upon another moderate hot-bed to bring them forward, hav- 

 ing a large (hare of air in warm weather, to prevent their 

 drawing up weak. Or they may be fown in pots of light 

 mould, and plunged in the hot-bid, which is probably the 

 better practice. In the firft mode, about the end of May 

 the plants may be planted out, fome into pots, to place in 

 or near the apartments, and others into warm borders, 

 where they may remain to flower and feed. The plants 

 which grow in the full ground, often produce more feeds 

 than thofe which are in pots ; but at the time when the 

 feed-veffels begin to fwell, the plants are frequently apt to 

 be infefted with green caterpillars, which, if they are not 

 deftroyed, cat off all the feed-veffels. 



And when the feeds are fown on a bed of light earth in 

 April, the plants come up very well ; and when not tranf- 

 planted, grow larger than thofe which are raifed in the hot- 

 bed ; but they do not flower fo early, andincoldfeafonsfcarcely 

 ripen their leeds. In a warm dry border, however, the feeds 

 often come up fpontaneoufly, and grow very luxuriantly ; 

 but to have the flowers early in fpring, the feeds (hould be 

 fown in pots in autumn, being kept in frames through the 

 winter, or on a gentle hot-bed in fpring. The plants may 

 alfo be preferved through the winter in a greenhoufe, where 



they 



