RUE: USING
Like most so-called superstitions, the belief in rue’s great powers has a sound basis of practical common sense. Rutin, its most active ingredient, was found during the last World War to be of great value in the treatment of weakened bloodvessels, and it is this property that makes it so effective an eye-strengthener, by increasing the capillary action and blood supply to the vision centre. Some have pointed to the Doctrine of Signatures again, for the strange root formation of rue bears quite a resemblance to the arrangement of the blood vessels in the eye.
Rue is certainly not a culinary herb. It has a strong fetid odour, which gives it another important use—as an insect repellent in the garden. No sane insect or animal (other than the before-mentioned weasel) will come within sniffing distance of rue. Up to the end of last century, judges and court dignitaries in England carried small bunches of rue, and it was also strewn freely around the courtroom, to act as an insect and pest repellent. The dreaded “jail fever” was carried by fleas and cockroaches, and rue was originally used in this way to prevent its spread into the courtroom by way of the prisoners.
The plant, as if to make up for its unpleasant odour, is an extremely attractive little herb of about 2 feet in height, with lacy bluish foliage and yellow flowers in summer. It is a perennial and evergreen, too. An insect repellent powder can be made from the leaves. Dry them and crush finely, then sprinkle them around and on any insect-infested plant. Within an hour the pests will be scampering, crawling or flying away as fast as possible.
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