Rue (Ruta graveolens) is an aromatic herb belonging to the Rutaceae family. It is a species with high rusticity that is easily found, in Italy, even in the wild.
It is a perennial evergreen shrub that does not grow much, rarely remaining at a height greater than half a meter. It has a thin stem, which becomes woody in the second year of the plant’s life, only in the basal portion: on it are inserted the bluish-green leaves, compound, small and oval, covered with glands that secrete the typical aroma of this plant.
It blooms between May and August, with small flowers composed of 4 petals of a yellow-greenish color, and gathered in raceme inflorescences. The fruit is a capsule (or coccario) rounded and wrinkled of a yellow-greenish color.
USE:
It is used as an aromatic herb in cooking, to flavor meat recipes, but above all for the preparation of liqueurs, grappas and digestive bitters. It is not necessary to abuse the intake of this plant, because in certain doses it is toxic. Rue, precisely because of its strong and pungent smell, is also used as a repellent, to keep insects and mice away.
