Ruta graveolens

In the ancient Roman world, the naturalists Pedanius Dioscorides and Pliny the Elder recommended that rue be combined with the poisonous shrub oleander to be drunk as an antidote to venomous snake bites.[2][3]

Illustration in the Tacuinum Sanitatis

The Tacuinum Sanitatis, a medieval handbook on wellness, lists these properties of rue:

• Nature: Warm and dry in the third degree.
• Optimum: That which is grown near a fig tree.
• Usefulness: It sharpens the eyesight and dissipates flatulence.
• Dangers: It augments the sperm and dampens the desire for coitus.
• Neutralization of the Dangers: With foods that multiply the sperm.

The refined oil of rue is an emmenagogue[4] and was cited by the Roman historian Pliny the Elder and the gynecologist Soranus as a potent abortifacient (inducing abortion).[5][6]

A "crown of rue" or crancelin on the heraldic banner of Saxony

Foliage

Capsule and seed - MHNT

Ruta "Tena Adam" in coffee in Ethiopia

Rue has a culinary use, but since it is bitter and gastric discomfort may be experienced by some individuals, it is used sparingly. Although used more extensively in former times, it is not a herb that is typically found in modern cuisine. Today it is largely unknown to the general public and most chefs, and unavailable in grocery stores in most countries.[7] It is a component of berbere, the characteristic Ethiopian-Eritrean spice mixture, and as such is encountered in their cuisine. Also in Ethiopia, fresh rue is dipped in coffee before drinking it. Due to small amounts of toxins it contains, it must be used in small amounts, and should be avoided by those who are pregnant or who have liver issues. Skin contact with the herb's juices are also highly advised against, due to its ability to burn the skin when it comes into contact with sunlight.

It has a variety of other culinary uses:

• It was used extensively in ancient Near Eastern and Roman cuisine (according to Ibn Sayyar al-Warraq and Apicius).
• Rue is used as a traditional flavouring in Greece and other Mediterranean countries.[1]
• In Istria (a region spanning Croatia and Slovenia), and in Northern Italy, it is used to give a special flavour to grappa/raki and most of the time a little branch of the plant can be found in the bottle. This is called grappa alla ruta.
• Seeds can be used for porridge.
• The bitter leaf can be added to eggs, cheese, fish, or mixed with damson plums and wine to produce a meat sauce.
• In Italy in Friuli Venezia-Giulia, the young branches of the plant are dipped in a batter, deep-fried in oil, and consumed with salt or sugar. They are also used on their own to aromatise a specific type of omelette.[8]
• Used in Old World beers as flavouring ingredient.[9]

Rue is also grown as an ornamental plant, both as a low hedge and so the leaves can be used in nosegays.

Most cats dislike the smell of it, and it can, therefore, be used as a deterrent to them (see also Plectranthus caninus).

Caterpillars of some subspecies of the butterfly Papilio machaon feed on rue, as well as other plants. The caterpillars of Papilio xuthus also feed readily on it.[10]

In South India, rue is recommended for home gardens to repel snakes (however the effectiveness is unknown).

The Catholic Church also used a branch of rue to sprinkle holy water on its followers: during this time it was known as the "herb of grace".

Hasidic Jews also were taught that rue should be placed into amulets to protect them from epidemics and plagues.[11] Other Hasidim rely on the works of a famous Baghdadi Kabbalist Yaakov Chaim Sofer who makes mention of the plant "ruda" (רודה) as an effective device against both black magic and the evil eye.[12]

It finds many household uses around the world as well. It is traditionally used in Central Asia as an insect repellent and room deodorizer.

Effect of the common rue on skin in sunny weather

Rue is mentioned in the Bible, Luke 11:42:

"But woe unto you, Pharisees! For ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs".

Rue is considered a national herb of Lithuania and it is the most frequently referenced herb in Lithuanian folk songs, as an attribute of young girls, associated with virginity and maidenhood. It was common in traditional Lithuanian weddings for only virgins to wear a rue (Lithuanian: rūta) at their wedding, a symbol to show their purity.

Likewise, rue is prominent in Ukrainian folklore, songs and culture. In the Ukrainian folk song "Oi poli ruta, ruta" (O, rue, rue in the field), the girl regrets losing her virginity, reproaching the lover for "breaking the green hazel tree".[25] "Chervona Ruta" (Червона Рута—"Red Rue") is a song, written by Volodymyr Ivasyuk, a popular Ukrainian poet and composer. Pop singer Sofia Rotaru performed the song in 1971.

"Una Matica de Ruda" is a traditional Sephardic wedding song.

It is one of the flowers distributed by the mad Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet (IV.5):

"There's fennel for you, and columbines:

there's rue for you; and here's some for me:

we may call it herb-grace o' Sundays:

O you must wear your rue with a difference..."

It was planted by the gardener in Richard II to mark the spot where the Queen wept upon hearing news of Richard's capture (III.4.104–105):

"Here did she fall a tear, here in this place

I'll set a bank of rue, sour herb of grace."

It is also given by the rusticated Perdita to her disguised royal father-in-law on the occasion of a sheep-shearing (Winter's Tale, IV.4):

"For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep

Seeming and savour all the winter long."

It is used by Michael in Milton's Paradise Lost to give Adam clear sight (11.414):

"Then purg'd with euphrasy and rue

The visual nerve, for he had much to see."

Rue is used by Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels (by Jonathan Swift) when he returns to England after living among the "Houyhnhnms". Gulliver can no longer stand the smell of the English Yahoos (people), so he stuffs rue or tobacco in his nose to block out the smell.

"I was at last bold enough to walk the street in his (Don Pedro's) company, but kept my nose well with rue, or sometimes with tobacco".