reseda

enUK

re·se·da

R0172600 (rĭ-sē′də, -sĕd′ə)n.1. Any of various Mediterranean plants of the genus Reseda, including the mignonette, having densely flowered terminal racemes and divided petals.2. A grayish or dark green to yellow green or light olive.

[New Latin Resēda, genus name, from Latin resēda, a kind of plant used to reduce tumors.]

re·se′da adj.

reseda

(ˈrɛsɪdə) n (Plants) any plant of the European genus Reseda, including mignonette and dyer's rocket, which has small spikes of grey-green flowersadj (Colours) of a greyish-green colour; mignonette[C18: from New Latin, from Latin: heal! from resēdāre to assuage, from re- + sēdāre to soothe; see sedate²]

Thesaurus

Noun

reseda - any plant of the genus Reseda herb, herbaceous plant - a plant lacking a permanent woody stem; many are flowering garden plants or potherbs; some having medicinal properties; some are pestsgenus Reseda - Old World genus of herbs having racemose flowers: mignonette; dyer's rocketmignonette, Reseda odorata, sweet reseda - Mediterranean woody annual widely cultivated for its dense terminal spikelike clusters greenish or yellowish white flowers having an intense spicy fragrancedyer's mignonette, dyer's rocket, Reseda luteola, weld - European mignonette cultivated as a source of yellow dye; naturalized in North America

Reseda

(mignonette), a genus of herbaceous plants of the family Resedaceae. The leaves are alternate, entire, and pinna-tifid or pinnatisect. The flowers, which are small, bisexual, and irregular, are in terminal racemes or spikes. The petals are white, yellow, or greenish yellow. The ovary is superior and has three or four carpels. The fruit is a capsule, with many small seeds.

There are 50 to 60 species of mignonette, distributed primarily in the Mediterranean countries and eastward to East Africa and India. Several species grow in Europe below 60°N lat. The USSR has approximately ten species, growing mainly in Middle Asia and the Caucasus. A few species are found in the European USSR, and one species grows in Western Siberia. The plants thrive on dry hills and slopes and on rocky soils and limestones; some grow as weeds among crops and in wastelands. Common mignonette (R. odoratum), which has fragrant white flowers, is cultivated in gardens and sometimes grows wild. The aboveground organs of some species, for example, R. lutea, contain a yellow pigment that is used as dye.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV

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Reseda

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Words related to reseda

noun any plant of the genus Reseda

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