From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Between 8-40 species, including:
Ruta angustifolia - Egyptian Rue
Ruta chalepensis - Fringed Rue
Ruta corsica - Corsican Rue
Ruta graveolens - Common Rue
Ruta montana - Mountain Rue
Rue (Ruta) is a genus of strongly scented evergreen subshrubs 20-60 cm tall, in the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean region, Macronesia and southwest Asia. Different authors accept between 8-40 species in the genus. The most well-known species is the Common Rue.
The leaves are bipinnate or tripinnate, with a feathery appearance, and green to strongly glaucous blue-green in colour. The flowers are yellow, with 4-5 petals, about 1 cm diameter, and borne in cymes. The fruit is a 4-5 lobed capsule, containing numerous seeds.
It was used extensively in Middle Eastern cuisine in olden days, as well as in many ancient Roman recipes (according to Apicius), but because it is very bitter, it is usually not suitable for most modern tastes. However, it is still used in certain parts of the world, particularly in northern Africa.
Rue has sometimes been called "herb-of-grace" in literary contexts. It is one of the flowers distributed by the mad Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (IV.5):
It was also planted by the gardener in Shakespeare's Richard II to mark the spot where the Queen wept upon hearing news of Richard's capture (III.4.104-105):
In a song named Her Ghost in the Fog by the black metal band, Cradle of Filth on their Midian album.
The progressive metal band Symphony X named a song "Absinthe and Rue" on their first album, Symphony X.
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