OF ORNAMENTAL ANNUALS, 
89 
CHAP1ER XIV. 
RESEDACE7E. 
Essential Character. —Calyx 4—6 parted, or 5-toothed. Petals 
4—6, open in aestivation, unguiculate, inserted into the base of a 
dilated disc. Stamens definite, 2 or 3 to each petal; hypogynous. 
Stigma 3—4 lohed. Capsule inflated, trigonal ; placentas parietal. 
Seeds cochleate.—( G. Don.) This order, and that of Violacete , 
according to the botauical arrangement, should precede Capparidacece. 
GENUS I. 
RESEDA, Lin. THE MIGNONETTE. 
IAn. Syst. OCTO-POLYAND11IA, TRI-TETRAGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Calyx of 4—5—6, narrow segments. Petals 4—5—6 cloven. Capsule bladdery, 3—4 horned, many-seeded.—(G. Don.) 
Description, &c.—This genus consists of numerous species, the most remarkable of which are the Weld, 
or Dyer’s Weed ( Reseda luteola ), a British plaut, used in dyeing yellow, and from which the colour called 
Dutch pink is made ; and the common sweet-scented Mignonette ( Reseda odorata). 
RESEDA ODORATA, Lin. THE COMMON, OR SWEET-SCENTED MIGNONETTE. 
Engraving. —Bot. Mag. t. 29. into many club-shaped divisions ; the two lowest simple. Capsules 
Specific Character. —Leaves lanceolate, bluntisli, entire, or trifid. 3-toothed.— (G. Don.) 
Calyx 6-parted, equal in length to the petals, which are finely cleft 
Description, &c. —The Mignonette, though called an annual, and always treated as such in this country, is 
in fact a shrub, and when carefully preserved through the winter, its stem becomes woody. In this state, it is 
called the tree Mignonette, and is hv many supposed to be a different species. Though its flower is by no means 
showy, it is a general favourite for its fragrance, and there are few flower-gardens in which it is not sown. It is 
a native of Barbary, where it has been found, by modern botanists, in the sands near Mascora, a fortified town of 
Algiers. It is also generally described in hooks as a native of Egypt, hut on what authority is not known, as 
there is no record of its having been ever found wild in that country. The earliest English writers who mention 
it (about the middle of the eighteenth century) call it the Egyptian Rocket. It appears to have been first 
brought from Barbary into Spain, from which country it was carried to the south of France, and thence to Paris. 
From Paris, its seeds are said to have been sent by Lord Bateman to Mr. Bateman, at Windsor, in 1742, though 
it did not come into general cultivation till 1752, when seeds of it were received by Miller, who was then curator 
of the Botanic Garden, Chelsea, from Dr. Adrian Van Royen, of Leyden. From the Chelsea Garden it soon 
passed into those of the London florists, and the “ fragrant weed,” as Cowper calls it, soon became a favourite. 
The name of Reseda is derived from the Latin resedo , to calm, or appease ; and it is supposed to hear reference 
to the healing properties of one of the species. The name Mignonette is literally “ little darling.” It is said in the 
little work called Le Langage des Fleurs , that this flower forms part of the arms of a noble family in Saxony, 
from an incident in the life of one of its descendants. The legend is that the Count Walsthein was paying his 
addresses to a beautiful heiress, who trifled with his affections, and who had a dependent cousin secretly in love 
with the count. One evening, while walking in the garden, the ladies each chose a flower, and the heiress gaily 
