RESEDA ODORATA.— THE MIGNIONETTE. 
Class XI. DODECANDRIA.— Order III. TRIGYNIA. 
Natural Order, RESEDACEiE.— THE MIGNIONETTE TRIBE. 
Leaves lanceolate, bluntish, entire or trifid, calyx 6-parted, equal in length to the petals, which are finely- 
cleft into many club-shaped divisions the lowest two' simple; capsules 3-toothed. Native of the North 
of Africa, Egypt, &c. Plant diffuse, with a few hairs on the stems. Flowers with yellowish-white petals 
and saffron anthers, disposed in loose racemes. The two upper petals and the two lateral ones are finely 
fringed, the two lower ones are very narrow. “The Mignionette” observes Mr. Don, “is a well-known and 
universal favourite. The flowers are highly odoriferous, and there are very few to whom this odour is 
offensive. The plant in pots is in great demand in London for rooms and placing in balconies, and forms 
for these purposes, an extensive article of culture among florists and market gardeners. The seeds are either 
sown in pots, or transplanted into pots, 4 or 6 plants to a pot 4 inches in diameter. To obtain plants for 
flowering from December to February, a sowing should be made in July, in the open ground, and the plants 
potted in September. The crop for March, April, and May, should be sown in pots not later than the 25th 
of August ; the plants from this sowing will not suffer from exposure to rain whilst they are young ; they 
may however, be protected from early frosts, like the winter crops; they are to be thinned in November, 
leaving not more than 8 or 10 plants in a pot, and at the same time the pots should be sunk 3 or 4 inches 
in some old tan or coal-ashes, and should be covered with a frame, which it is best to place fronting the 
west, for then the lights may be left open in the evening, to catch the sun whenever it sets clear. The 
third, or spring crop, should be sown in pots, not later than the 25th of February. These must be placed 
in a frame, on a gentle heat; and as the heat declines, the-pots must be let down three or four inches into 
the dung-bed, which will keep the roots moist, and prevent their leaves turning brown from the heat of the 
sun in April and May. The plants thus obtained, will be in perfection by the end of May, and be ready 
to succeed those raised by the autumnal sowing/’ 
The Tree Mignionette should be propagated from seeds sown in spring; it may also be increased by 
cuttings, which strike root readily. The young plants should be potted singly into small pots, and brought 
forward by heat on a gentle hot-bed, but they will grow well without artificial heat. As they advance, they 
should be tied to a stick, taking care to prevent the growth of smaller side shoots, by pinching them off, 
but allowing the leaves of the main stem to remairi on for a time. When they have attained the height of 
ten inches or more, according to the fancy of the cultivator, the shoots must be suffered to extend them- 
selves from the top, but must be occasionally stopped at the ends, to force them to form a bushy head, 
which by the autumn will be eight or nine inches in diameter, and covered with bloom. Whilst the plants 
are attaining the proper size, they should be shifted progressively into larger pots, and may be ultimately 
left in those of about six inches in diameter at the top. 
“ The Resedas ,” says my brother in his outlines of Botany, “were used by the Romans as poultices to 
allay irritation, and, from their supposed influence in assuaging pain, their common generic designation has 
been derived. R. luteola is the dyer’s weld, which was formerly in great esteem for imparting a beautiful 
yellow colour to cotton, linen, silk, and woollen goods. Blue cloths dipped in this dye-stuff become green; 
and it is from the weld that the yellow pigment called Dutch pink is made. This is one of the first plants 
which grows on the heaps of rubbish that are thrown out of coal-pits. Linnaeus observed that the nodding 
spikes of R. luteola follow the course of the sun in their nutation, even when the day is cloudy, pointing 
eastward in the morning, south at noon, towards the west at sunset, and due north at night. 
Reseda odorata is the mignionette, one of our most cherished and deservedly favorite domestic plants. 
It has not been introduced into this country more than three quarters of a century, but it quickly established 
itself in universal favor, and has been for some years cultivated most extensively in the environs of the me- 
tropolis; and, from the abundance in which it is supplied to the inhabitants of London, the streets are often 
rendered redolent with its fragrance. R. arborescens, the tree mignionette, is a variety which has been 
rendered suffruticose by preventing the early development of its blossoms. In France this variety is more 
encouraged than here, and instances are known in which the stems have become woody, and exceeded an 
inch in circumference.” 
We are indebted for the following passage, to the Flora Domestica: — 
This plant is supposed to be an Egyptian, and to have been brought hither from the South of France, 
where it is called reseda d’Egypte, and herbe d’ amour [love-flower.] A French appellation, derived from the 
Spanish, minoneta, prevails here over its classical one. It is a favourite plant, very fragrant, and has well 
justified this affectionate name. Mignonette, or Little-darling: its sweetness wins all hearts. 
