Rue

Rue is a small, woody, evergreen shrub of the family Rutaceae, native to the Mediterranean and southern Europe and grown in gardens far beyond for its bluish-green, finely divided leaves, which smell strongly when bruised and taste intensely bitter. Its small flowers are dull or greenish yellow, with four or five petals. It flavoured Roman and Near Eastern cooking and is still used sparingly, in Italian grappa and some Mediterranean dishes. Grieve counts it among England's oldest garden plants: Hippocrates praised it, Mithridates put it in his antidote to poison, holy water was once sprinkled from brushes of rue, which is said to have earned it the name herb of grace, and judges at the assizes kept sprigs on the bench against gaol fever. It has long been a charm against the evil eye, among the Romans, in Italy and in Sephardic tradition, and it is the national herb of Lithuania. Kynes recalls the herb that freed Ulysses's companions from Circe's enchantment, and an English belief that no witch could enter a house whose floors had been washed with rue. Cunningham gives it to Mars and fire, and to healing and love: rue in the bath breaks hexes, hung at the door it protects, and a sprig sprinkles salt water to clear a house of negativity. Kynes adds Saturn, the Sun, three signs, and powers that include banishing, divination, purification and wisdom.