— 
98 RUDDLE. 
digitate-leaved, the pinnate-leaved, and the cut- 
leaved, are readily distinguishable from one an- 
other by the form of their leaves; and the last 
of these has an average height of 6 or 7 feet, and 
blooms from July till September, and has been 
recommended as worthy of trial in the field as a 
forage plant. 
RUDDLE. An ochreous or ferruginous, red- 
dish, loose, pulverulent mineral substance, found 
in Derbyshire and in other parts of England, and 
much used, from a remote period, for marking 
sheep. 
RUE,—botanically Ruta. A genus of thalami- 
florous plants, principally evergreen undershrubs, 
constituting the type of the natural order Ruta- 
cee. This order is large and interesting ; and 
occupies an intermediate station, both botani- 
cally and economically, between the wood-sorrel 
family and the quassia family; but it has not 
any uniform or very distinctive character, and 
might, without impropriety, be regarded as a 
collection of several small and successively allied 
groups. Some of its species are fetid herbs of 
the temperate parts of the northern hemisphere ; 
some are handsome, aromatic, heath-like shrubs 
of the southern hemisphere, particularly of 
southern Africa; some are trees of the tropics, 
-with a panicled inflorescence of pale and very 
small flowers ; some are shrubs of Australia, with 
long or broad leaves and with a stellate pubes- 
cence; and some have characters or stations 
somewhat different from all these. Some of the 
genera, such as Adlantws and Correa, contain 
highly ornamental plants ; and still more, such 
as Cusparia, Brucea, Ruta, Peganum, and Zanthox- 
ylum, contain medicinal species. Nine or ten 
hardy species, about 150 greenhouse species, and 
about 20 hothouse species, occur at present in 
Britain, and are distributed among nearly 40 
genera. See the article Diosma. 
The rue genus comprises about 20 species, 
chiefly natives of countries around the Mediter- 
ranean ; but it concentrates all its main interest 
in the common or heavy-scented species, Ruta 
graveolens. This plant was introduced to Britain 
nearly 3 centuries ago from the South of Europe; 
and is cultivated in gardens for various small 
purposes of medicine and economy. It is a 
hardy evergreen shrub, of commonly about 3 
feet in height. Its stems are branching and 
bushy ; its lower parts are ligneous, and have a 
grey, rough, striated bark ; its upper branches 
are smooth and pale green ; its leaves are bipin- 
nate, and have the pinnae distantly set from one 
another ; its leaflets are sessile, obovate, slightly 
crenate, thickish, and glaucous; and its flowers 
grow in terminal branched corymbs, and have a 
five-petalled pale greenish yellow corolla, and 
. bloom from June till September. The leaves 
have a hot, bitter, nauseous taste, and a heavy 
disagreeable odour ; they yield, by distillation, a 
volatile oil, which possesses all their virtues, and 
is the seat of all their medicinal value; and, 
when fresh, they are so acrimonious as to irritate 
and even blister the skin. The oil, the extract, 
and the powdered leaves are used in human 
medicine; and possess stimulant and anti-spas- 
modic properties; and are serviceable princi-* 
pally in hysteria, in flatulent colic, and in fe- 
male complaints.— Rue loves a poor rubbishy 
soil, containing calcareous intermixtures; and 
may be grown on an unsheltered spot; and is 
usually propagated from slips and cuttings, 
planted in spring, but may be propagated also 
from seed. Plants of it in the garden should be 
kept moderate in size by cutting, and not al- 
lowed to go to seed. 
RUE (Mzapow). See Mreapow Rus. 
RUELLIA. A genus of ornamental, exotic 
plants, of the acanthaceous order. About 30 
species have been introduced to the gardens of 
Britain, principally from the tropics; and up- 
wards of 50 more are known. ‘Two Indian ones, 
R. ringens and fh. strepens, possess some native 
medicinal reputation. A few of the introduced 
species are evergreen undershrubs; the majority 
are evergreen shrubs; and most have a height 
of between 12 and 40 inches, and carry either 
blue or purple or red flowers in the end of sum- 
mer or in the beginning of August. Most also 
love a soil of loam, and may be propagated from 
cuttings. The tuberous-rooted species, introduced 
about the middle of last century, may be selected 
as a sufficient specimen of the whole. “ This,” 
says Miller, “grows naturally in many of the 
islands of the West Indies. The roots of it are 
composed of many swelling fleshy tubers which 
run deep into the ground, and are like those of 
the day lily, but are smaller. The stalk rises 
about 4 or 5 inches high, and sends out 2 or 3 
short side branches, garnished with leaves placed 
opposite. Some of these are small and shaped 
like a spatula, others are much larger; they have 
short footstalks, and are a little crenated on 
their edges. The flowers are produced on the 
side and at the end of the stalk; those on the 
side have 2 flowers upon each footstalk, which 
come out opposite at each joint; but those at 
the top sustain 3. The flowers have narrow 
tubes about an inch long, then they spread out 
to a sort of bell shape, and at the top are cut 
into 5 obtuse segments, which are large and 
spread open; they are of a fine blue, but of short 
duration, each flower seldom lasting in beauty 
one day. After the flower fades, the germen™ 
becomes a taper pod 1$ inch long, having two 
cells, which when ripe, burst with a touch, and 
cast out the seeds to a distance. It flowers in 
July; and the seeds ripen in the beginning of 
September.” 1 
RUFF,—scientifically Machetes Pugnax. A 
British bird of passage, of the longirostrous fa- 
mily of waders. It particularly frequents the 
fens of the east of England, and is common to 
the coast of France, and to the whole of the 
north of Kurope. The male is celebrated for 
