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prettygoodwordreseda (re-SEE-duh) - n., any of several species of fragrant Eurasian herbaceous plants of the genus Reseda, including the mignonette, having dense flower-spikes and divided petals.
About 40 species, ranging from the Canary Islands to India, though with typical Eurocentrism it's often described as Mediterranean. The name comes from the genus name, from Latin resēda, literally heal!, used by Pliny to name a plant used to treat tumors, from the imperative of form of resēdāre, to heal/assuage. Whether Pliny was using resēda for a mignonette is unclear to me. Regardless, here's a reseda of the wild mignonette (R. lutea) form:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
About 40 species, ranging from the Canary Islands to India, though with typical Eurocentrism it's often described as Mediterranean. The name comes from the genus name, from Latin resēda, literally heal!, used by Pliny to name a plant used to treat tumors, from the imperative of form of resēdāre, to heal/assuage. Whether Pliny was using resēda for a mignonette is unclear to me. Regardless, here's a reseda of the wild mignonette (R. lutea) form:
Thanks, WikiMedia!
---L.
