| Reseda | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Reseda lutea (wild mignonette) | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Brassicales |
| Family: | Resedaceae |
| Genus: | Reseda L. |
| Species | |
See text | |
Reseda/rɪˈsiːdə/,[1] also known as themignonette/ˌmɪnjəˈnɛt/,[2] is agenus of fragrantherbaceous plants native to Europe,southwest Asia and North Africa, from theCanary Islands andIberia east tonorthwest India.
Reseda includes herbaceous annual, biennial and perennial species 40–130 cm (20–50 in) tall. The leaves form a basal rosette at ground level, and then spirally arranged up the stem; they can be entire, toothed or pinnate, and range from 1–15 cm (0.4–5.9 in) long. The flowers are produced in a slender spike, each flower small (4–6 mm (0.16–0.24 in) diameter), white, yellow, orange, or green, with four to six petals. The fruit is a small dry capsule containing several seeds.
Propagation is by seed, which is surface-sown directly into the garden or grass verge. The plant does not take well to transplanting and should not be moved after sowing.
Mignonette flowers are extremely fragrant. It is grown for the sweetambrosial scent of its flowers. It is used in flower arrangements, perfumes andpotpourri. AVictorian favourite, it was commonly grown in pots and in window-boxes to scent the city air. It was used as asedative and a treatment for bruises inRoman times. The volatile oil is used in perfumery. Yellow dye was obtained from the roots ofR. luteola by the first millennium BC, and perhaps earlier than eitherwoad ormadder. Use of this dye came to an end at the beginning of the twentieth century, when cheaper synthetic yellow dyes came into use.[3]
Charles Darwin usedR. odorata in his studies of self-fertilised plants, which he documented inThe Effects of Cross and Self-Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom.
As of March 2014[update]The Plant List recognises 41 accepted species (including infraspecific names):[4]
| Techniques |  | |
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| Types of dyes | ||
| Traditional textile dyes | ||
| History | ||
| Craft dyes | ||
| Reference | ||
