Rue An Overlooked Herb
RANDALL COUNTY MASTER GARDENERS
Rue (Ruta graveolens)
An Overlooked, Underused Herb
By Andi Wardlaw, Master Gardener
“In ancient times, Rue was an important culinary and medicinal herb. Rue was a common cooking herb for the Romans and commonly used in a spicy seasoning paste that contained garlic, hard cheese, coriander, and celery seeds with Rue leaves. The botanical, Latin name of “Ruta” comes from Greek, translated as “to set free,” referring to its use as a chief ingredient in mixtures used as antidotes to poisoning.
It was acommon herb believed to keep away witches,and that folk use evolved into the Catholic Church’s practice ofdipping branches of rue into Holy water and sprinkling it over the heads of parishioners as a blessing,which earned it a common name for the plant of “herb of grace.”
This heirloom herb remains virtually unchanged since ancient times. There has beenno hybridizing or even selecting out strains of the plant.What you grow in your garden will be a direct descendant of the same plant found growing in its native habitat of the Mediterranean region and parts of Western Asia.
https://txmg.org/randall/staying-connected/gardening-with-the-masters/gardening-tips-2/rue-an-overlooked-herb/