Ragwort | Red Clover | Rose Geranium | Rose | Rosemary | Rue

Ragwort (Senecio facobaea) 30-70 cm (12-30 ins).
Flowers with golden-yellow rays and brownish discs.
Erect, grooved, brown-streaked stem. Coarsely toothed basal leaves.
Found in wet areas, along stream banks and in marshes.
Traditional medicinal use for a variety of female complaints, American Indians used it to speed abortion. Contains toxics dangerous to livestock.

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Red Clover see Clover

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Rose Geranium see Geranium

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Rose Hips Dog Rose (Rosa canina), Wild Rose (Rosa rugosa), Sweetbriar (Rosa rubiginosa).
Rose hips are the red/orange fruit, berries which are left after the flowers wilt.
Dog rose is the most common. All are the familiar bush or rambler marked by their prickly stems. Flowers are usually pale pink or white, fragrant, and with many yellow stamens.
Culinary use of rose hip tea or puree as rich in vitamin C and A.
Seeds are dangerous and can cause stomach haemorrhage.

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Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) Up to 1.5 m (5 ft).
Delicate blue flowers in clusters; succulent leaves, narrow like pine needles, green on top, greyish-green beneath. Woody trunk with many branches. There are a number of different varieties which vary in size.
Can be cultivated best on a light sandy soil, preferably on chalk as needs lime.
Medicinal use of tea supposed to be good for weak digestion and neuralgic pains, also stimulates the circulation.
Culinary use in wide variety of preparations including, soups, stews. meat, fish, particularly noted for its fragrance.

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Rue (Ruta graveolens) 30-70 cm (12-30 ins).
Small yellow-green flowers growing in clusters. Branched pale green stem. Aromatic.
Found wild but usually cultivated.
Traditional medicinal use to relieve gouty pains and to treat nervous heart problems.
Large doses can cause poisoning, especially dangerous for pregnant women.

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