RES 
tary, a flat erect gland, proceeding from the receptacle, situ¬ 
ated at the upper side of the flower, between the stamens 
and uppermost petal, converging with the dilated base of 
the petals. Stamina: filaments eleven or fifteen, short; 
anthers erect, obtuse, the length of the corolla. Pistil: 
germ gibbous, ending in three or four very short styles; 
stigmas simple. Pericarp : capsule gibbous, angular, coria¬ 
ceous, tipped with the styles, and gaping at the summit be¬ 
tween them, of one cell. Seeds numerous, kidney-shaped, 
inserted into the angles of the capsule. 
Linnaeus observes, that there is scarcely any genus whose 
character is more difficult to determine, both the number and 
shape of the parts being different in different species. The 
essential character consists in the three-cleft petals, one petal 
bearing honey at its base, and the capsule not being closed, 
but always gaping. 
1. Reseda luteola, dyer’s-weed, yellow-weed, or weld.— 
Leaves lanceolate, undivided, flat. Calyx four-cleft.—Native 
of waste ground, rubbish, banks, and old walls, chiefly 
about villages, in most of the temperate parts of Europe. 
About Norwich it is very common; partly perhaps from the 
dispersion of its seeds, in consequence of the great use made 
of the cultivated herb, in the woollen manufactory of that 
city, for dyeing yellow. The colour it affords is very bright, 
and is especially useful for making a good green ; the cloth 
being first dyed blue. The herb is annual, flowering in 
July. Root spindle-shaped. Stem erect, wand-like, two 
or three feet high, branched, leafy, striated, smooth. Leaves 
linear-lanceolate, entire, smooth, for the most part furnished 
with a small callous tooth, on each side, at the base. Flow¬ 
ers small, cream coloured, very numerous, in long, simple, 
solitary, terminal, slightly drooping spikes, which, accor¬ 
ding to Linnaeus, follow the course of the sun, even in a 
cloudy day. 
2. Reseda canescens, or hoary base-rocket.—Leaves lanceo¬ 
late, waved, somewhat hairy. Branches hispid.—Native of 
waste ground near Cairo. For sin/l. Probably also of the 
south of Europe. The stems are decumbent, branched, 
eighteen inches or more in length, round, leafy, rough with 
copious, minute, white, spreading, short, bristly hairs. 
Leaves scattered, lanceolate, one and a half or two inches 
long, bluntish, entire, wavy, and roughish at the edges, as 
well as at the midrib on both sides; otherwise smooth, and 
somewhat glaucous; tapering at the base, and sending down 
two elevated ribs, for some distance, along the branch. 
Flowers in long, terminal, stalked, hairy clusters, on short, 
partial stalks. Calyx five-cleft. Petals white. Germen, 
according to Forskall’s description, stalked, with six styles. 
—Vahl has well remarked that reseda canescens of Sp. PI. 
cannot be the same with the above. Indeed it appears to 
be no other than either reseda sesamoides or purpurascens, 
the figure of Clusius agreeing best with the former; his de¬ 
scription and the Linnsean definition with the latter. Yet 
this same figure, adopted by Gerarde, seems to be the only 
foundation on which reseda canescens depends for a place in 
Hort. Kew.—We have never seen the canescens living, 
nor can we find a figure of it. 
3. Reseda glauca, or glaucous base-rocket.—Leaves linear ; 
toothed at the base. Styles four.—Native of the Pyrenaejn 
mountains, and of Spain. The root is said to be perennial, 
but has the appearance of being annual. Whole herb glau¬ 
cous, slender, and smooth. Stem twelve or eighteen inches 
high, simple, round, wand-like, leafy. Leaves about two 
inches long, very narrow; all nearly of equal breadth, fur¬ 
nished at the base with a few white bristly teeth. Cluster 
terminal, solitary, very long, of numerous white flowers, 
whose petals are less divided than in most other species. 
4. Reseda dipetala, or flax-leaved base rocket.—Native of 
the Cape of Good Hope, from whence its seeds were sent to 
Kew, in 1774, by Mr. Masson. The plant is biennial, 
flowering in August, being preserved in a green-house 
through the winter. Vahl compares its general aspect to 
•reseda sesamoides, hereafter described. Stem somewhat 
shrubby, erect, with round branches. Leaves about an 
inch long, rather fleshy, smooth. Cluster terminal, lax* 
EDA. 3 
Segments of the calyx six, minute, bordered with white. 
Petals only two, wedge-shaped, undivided. 
5. Reseda purpurascens, or purplish base-rocket.—Native 
of Spain. Stems several, a span high, simple, leafy. Leaves 
scattered, the length of the nail, linear, obtuse, smooth. 
Cluster, or rather spike, long, lax. Petals very white, 
much divided. Styles five, sometimes, as Clusius describes 
them, only four. Capsule with as many protuberant, single- 
seeded knobs or pouches. 
6. Reseda sesamoides, or spear-leaved base-rocket.—Na¬ 
tive of Barbary, and the south of Europe. A hardy annual 
in Kew garden, flowering in July and August. The root 
is spindle-shaped, very long, tapering, and branched at the ex¬ 
tremity. Stems numerous, spreading nearly horizontall y, from 
three to twelve inches long, generally simple, smooth, leafy. 
Radical-leaves numerous, lanceolate or somewhat obovate, 
entire, smooth, an inch long, tapering down into a foot¬ 
stalk of about the same length; stem-leaves much smaller 
and narrower, linear and obtuse. Clusters terminal, rather 
dense. Petals white. Styles four or five. Capsule of the 
same number of spreading lobes, fringed at the edges, and 
assuming a star-like figure. 
7. Reseda fruticulosa, or shrubby base-rocket.—Native of 
the south of Europe. The root and base of the stem 
are woody and perennial, producing a number of up¬ 
right, less durable branches, two or three feet high, leafy, 
subdivided, smooth, round, with elevated ribs. Leaves 
alternate, stalked, pinnate, of five, seven, or many more, 
lanceolate, entire, decurrent, smooth leaflets, seldom regu¬ 
larly opposite; the terminal one much the largest, some¬ 
times, but not always, recurved at the point; the lower ones 
gradually smallest. Clusters terminal, erect, long, and 
rather lax. Petals five, white, uniform, oblong, all cut, not 
nearly half way down, into three equal segments. Styles 
often four; sometimes but three. Stamens eleven. 
8. Reseda alba, or white base-rocket, or upright migno¬ 
nette.—Native of Spain and the south of France; as well 
as of Greece and the island of Zante. It has copious dense 
spikes, of elegant white flowers, whose petals have deeper, 
more numerous segments, than the foregoing. Otherwise 
their parts of fructification do not much differ. The number 
of styles, and of segments of the calyx, varies in both, 
according to the luxuriance' of the plants. The leaflets of 
alba are more numerous, as well as more equal in size, than 
in fruticulosa, nor is the terminal one larger than the rest. 
Sometimes their edges are roughish. Dr. Sibthorp observed, 
that the whole herb, and also the bruised seed, were used in 
Zante to dye silk yellow. 
9. Reseda undata, or wave-leaved base-rocket.—Native of 
Spain. A hardy perennial, flowering in summer. The 
stems are erect, branched, straight and wand-like, one to 
two feet high. Leaves unequally pinnate, very much crisped, 
or wavy. Flowers smaller than in either of the last, and of 
a less pure white, composing very long clusters, or rather 
spikes, for each flower is nearly sessile; the lower ones 
very remote. Some of the petals appear, by the dried 
specimens, to have three, others five, obtuse segments, of 
which the lateral ones are broadest. We have great doubts 
whether the specimen from which Linnaeus took his 
remark of the great size of the capsules, really belongs to 
this species. 
10. Reseda lutea, or yellow base-rocket, or wild migno¬ 
nette.—Native of dry chalky hills in the temperate and 
southern countries of Europe; abundant in the chalky parts 
of England, flowering from June to the end of autumn. 
The root, generally annual with us, often survives a mild 
winter. Stems spreading, branched, leafy, a foot or more 
in height. Leaves tapering at the base; some of them 
with only one pair of lateral leaflets; others with many, 
which are occasionally subdivided; all the leaflets, or seg¬ 
ments, are linear, channelled, more or less wavy; frequently 
very much crisped or curled. The flowers are numerous, 
sulphur-coloured, slightly, and not agreeably, odorous; 
their two upper petals with two fan-like lateral lobes, and a 
short linear one between; two lateral petals very unequally 
and 
