2 New Books ** Edible Plants: An inspirational guide to choosing and growing unusual edible plants and Woodland Gardening (Forest) [Paperback]. more >>
Search Page Content
   Bookmark and Share
   
    By donating to PFAF, you can help support and expand our activities
    Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List
Reseda odorata - L.                
                 
Common Name Mignonette
Family Resedaceae
Synonyms
Known Hazards None known
Habitats a common weed, it also grows amongst rocks[245].
Range N. Africa - Egypt. An occasional garden escape in Britain[17].
Edibility Rating  
Medicinal Rating  
Care
Moist Soil Semi-shade Full sun

Summary       

Physical Characteristics       
 icon of manicon of flower
Reseda odorata is a ANNUAL/PERENNIAL growing to 0.5 m (1ft 8in) by 0.3 m (1ft). It is in flower from Jun to October, and the seeds ripen from Aug to October. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees, lepidoptera, insects, self.The plant is self-fertile.
It is noted for attracting wildlife.


Suitable for: light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. Suitable pH: acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It prefers moist soil.
Reseda odorata Mignonette


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Botanical_Magazine,_Plate_29_%28Volume_1,_1787%29.png
Reseda odorata Mignonette
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Zubro
   
Habitats       
 Cultivated Beds;
Edible Uses                                         
None known
Medicinal Uses


Plants For A Future can not take any responsibility for any adverse effects from the use of plants. Always seek advice from a professional before using a plant medicinally.

Acrid;  Diaphoretic;  Diuretic;  Laxative;  Resolvent.

The acrid root is diaphoretic, diuretic and laxative[240]. The seed is applied externally as a resolvent[240].
Other Uses
Dye;  Essential.

An essential oil is obtained from the flowers[57, 61]. Used in perfumery[46, 74]. 1200 Kg of flowers yields 350gr absolute[46]. A yellow dye is obtained from the plant[168].
Cultivation details                                         
Easily grown in any well-drained neutral to slightly alkaline soil in a sunny position or in some shade if the summers are long and hot[108, 200]. The flowers are very fragrant[245]. Plants are sometimes cultivated for the essential oil in their flowers[61]. A good plant for bees and butterflies[30, 200], it is also an important food plant for the caterpillars of many species of butterfly[30].
                                                                                 
Propagation                                         
Seed - sow in situ in the spring and only lightly cover the seed. Germination usually takes place within 2 weeks. An autumn sowing usually succeeds in areas where winter temperatures do not fall below about -10°c[200].
Plant Suppliers: Click here for a List

      You can download this page as a PDF

Expert comment                                         
 
      
Author                                         
L.
                                                                                 
Botanical References                                         
50200
                                                                                 
Links / References                                         

[30]Carter D. Butterflies and Moths in Britain and Europe.
An excellent book on Lepidoptera, it also lists their favourite food plants.
[46]Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants.
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
[57]Schery. R. W. Plants for Man.
Fairly readable but not very comprehensive. Deals with plants from around the world.
[61]Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man.
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.
[74]Komarov. V. L. Flora of the USSR.
An immense (25 or more large volumes) and not yet completed translation of the Russian flora. Full of information on plant uses and habitats but heavy going for casual readers.
[108]International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees.
The title says it all.
[168]Grae. I. Nature's Colors - Dyes from Plants.
A very good and readable book on dyeing.
[200]Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992.
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
[240]Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement).
Very terse details of medicinal uses of plants with a wide range of references and details of research into the plants chemistry. Not for the casual reader.
[245]Genders. R. Scented Flora of the World.
An excellent, comprehensive book on scented plants giving a few other plant uses and brief cultivation details. There are no illustrations.

Readers comment                                         
 
QR Code

What's this?

This is a QR code (short for Quick Response) which gives fast-track access to our website pages. QR Codes are barcodes that can be read by mobile phone (smartphone) cameras. This QR Code is unique to this page. All plant pages have their own unique code. For more information about QR Codes click here.
1. Copy and print the QR code to a plant label, poster, book, website, magazines, newspaper etc and even t-shirts.
2. Smartphone users scan the QR Code which automatically takes them to the webpage the QR Code came from.
3. Smartphone users quickly have information on a plant directly for the pfaf.org website on their phone.
Rate This Plant                                         
Please rate this plants for how successful you have found it to be. You will need to be logged in to do this. Our intention is not to create a list of 'popular' plants but rather to highlight plants that may be rare and unusual and that have been found to be useful by website users. This hopefully will encourage more people to use plants that they possibly would not have considered before.
     
                                                                                 
Add a comment/link                                         

If you have important information about this plant that may help other users please add a comment or link below. Only comments or links that are felt to be directly relevant to a plant will be included. If you think a comment/link or information contained on this page is inaccurate or misleading we would welcome your feedback at admin@pfaf.org. If you have questions about a plant please use the Forum on this website as we do not have the resources to answer questions ourselves.

* Please note: the comments by website users are not necessarily those held by PFAF and may give misleading or inaccurate information.

Subject : Reseda odorata  
             

Links To add a link to another website with useful info add the details here
Name of Site
URL of Site
Details

                                        
                                                                                 
                                                                                 
   
 

All the information contained in these pages is Copyright (C) Plants For A Future, 1996-2012.
Plants For A Future is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales. Charity No. 1057719, Company No. 3204567,
Web Design & Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Some information cannot be used for commercial reasons or be modified (but some can). Please view the copyright link for more information.