Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Sapindales > Rutaceae > Ruta > Ruta graveolens

Ruta graveolens (common rue)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Ruta graveolens, commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of Ruta grown as an ornamental plant and as an herb. It is native to the Balkan Peninsula. It is now grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for its bluish leaves, and sometimes for its tolerance of hot and dry soil conditions. It is also cultivated as a medicinal herb, as a condiment, and to a lesser extent as an insect repellent.
View Wikipedia Record: Ruta graveolens

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  All parts of this plant are poisonous in large quantities; It should not be used at all by pregnant women since it can induce abortions; The sap contains furanocoumarins, sensitizing the skin to light and causing blistering or dermatitis in sensitive people;
Leaf Type [2]  Evergreen
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Scent [2]  The bruised leaves have a pleasant orange-like fragrance; It is one of the most pleasant herbs to inhale;
Structure [2]  Shrub
Usage [2]  The growing or the dried plant can be used to repel insects, it is most useful when the plant is grown near roses and raspberries; The dried herb can also be put in the linen cupboard to repel moths; The growing plant is also said to repel cats; A red dye is obtained from the plant; An essential oil is obtained from the leaves and young shoots, it is used in perfumery and as a food flavouring; The plant was formerly used as a strewing herb; Plants can be grown for ground cover when planted about 45cm apart each way; They can be trimmed back in spring to keep them bushy;
Height [2]  20 inches (0.5 m)
Width [2]  20 inches (0.5 m)
View Plants For A Future Record : Ruta graveolens

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Hackpen Hill 89 England, United Kingdom  
Mandra - Poda 15162 Bulgaria  
Muschelkalkhänge um Teichel und Großkochberg 2535 Germany  
Parco Del Somma-Vesuvio e Miglio D'Oro National Park II 33648 Italy

Emblem of

Lithuania

Predators

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 4HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 5Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 6Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 7Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0