Main Producing Areas, Effects, and Cultivation Methods of the Chinese Herb Rue

Rue, a perennial herbaceous plant of the genus Ruta in the family Rutaceae with a woody stem base, is used as a medicinal herb in both its stems, branches and leaves. So, where is the Chinese herb “rue” cultivated? What effects does it have?How is it planted?

I. Where is the Chinese herb “rue” cultivated?

Rue is native to the coastal regions of the Mediterranean. It is cultivated in both northern and southern China, mostly in pots.

II. What effects does it have?

Rue has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, cooling the blood and dispersing stasis. It mainly treats colds with fever, wind-fire toothache, headache, and bruises and sprains. External application of the branches and leaves to the skin causes skin redness and swelling. It is also a stimulant, mainly stimulating the uterus and nervous system, and is unsuitable for consumption by pregnant women.

The distinctive fragrance of rue has an insecticidal effect and can be used to repel flies; its bright yellow flowers can add color to flower beds or be made into dried flowers, and are also good material for flower arrangements. Rue is suitable for planting in slightly shaded spots, and as long as drainage is good, there is no need to be selective about soil; it can be easily cultivated by sowing seeds directly in spring or by cuttings. Rue is also the national flower of Lithuania.

III. How is rue planted?

1. Seed propagation: sow in spring and autumn. Direct seeding or seedling transplanting: for the direct seeding method, open holes at a row and plant spacing of 45m×30 cm and sow, cover with 2-3 cm of soil, press down lightly, and water; for the seedling transplanting method, scatter the seeds on a seedbed in autumn, cover with soil just enough to cover the seeds, press down lightly, water, cover with grass, and transplant in the following spring. Cutting propagation:

2. For raising seedlings by cuttings, select robust 2-4 year old plants, cut semi-lignified branches as cuttings, and insert them into a seedbed during the rainy season. For spring cuttings, transplant in the same year; for autumn cuttings, transplant in the following spring. For planting out, spring is suitable in the north and autumn in the south.

3. Field management: thin and fill in seedlings when they are 10-12 cm tall. Cultivate and weed 3-4 times each year, combined with topdressing of human and livestock manure. Irrigate in the dry season and dig ditches for drainage in the rainy season.

4. Disease and pest control: among diseases there is root rot, for which lime is spread in the diseased holes. Among pests, the larvae of the citrus yellow swallowtail butterfly harm the leaves, and 90% trichlorfon diluted 800-1000 times is sprayed.