Rue

Western Bulk Herbs – Rue

While rue has been used for centuries for both culinary and medicinal purposes, today it’s not encouraged to take it internally. However, it helps with a variety of gastro intestinal problems and it’s been used as a magickal herb for protection and warding off the evil.

Latin Name:
Ruta graveolens

Common Names:
Common Rue and Herb of Grace

Parts Used:
Leaves and stems

Properties:
Strongly stimulating and antispasmodic

Traditional Uses:
Tincture and tea plus it can be made into a wash.

Topical Uses / Applications:

Culinary Uses:
Normally not used in cooking.

Chemical Properties:
caprinic, plagonic, caprylic and oenanthylic acids – also a yellow crystalline body, called rutin

Folk Lore:
Culpepper recommends it for sciatica and pains in the joints, if the latter be “anointed’ with it, as also for ‘the shaking fits of agues, to take a draught before the fit comes.”

He also tells us that:
“the juice thereof warmed in a pomegranate shell or rind, and dropped into the ears, helps the pains of them. The juice of it and fennel, with a little honey, and the gall of a cock put thereunto, helps the dimness of the eyesight.”

Cautions:
Do not use Rue if you are pregnant or nursing. Avoid prolonged exposure to sunlight due to photosensitizing effect. Do not use if you have kidney insufficiencies.

*Disclaimer: These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Resources:
PDR for Herbal Medicines, 2000. Medical Economics Company, Montvale, New Jersey.

The New Holistic Herbal. David Hoffmann, 1990. Barnes and Noble Books, New York.

A Modern Herbal, Mrs. M. Grieve, (Dover Publications, New York, 1971)

Major Herbs of Ayurvedic.Compiled by Dahur Research Foundation and Dahur Ayurvet Limited, Ghaziabad, India., 2002. Churchill Livingstone, London, England.

Chinese Herbal Medicine: Materia Medica, Third Edition, Dan Bensky and Andrew Gamble, 1986. Eastland Press, Seattle, WA.