Dittany (Dictamnus), a genus of Rutaceæ, of which the common species, also called Bastard
Dittany or Fraxinella (D. albus), a native of the south of Europe, is an old inmate of our gardens. It is a perennial, with unbranched stem, pinnate leaves, and a fine raceme of white or rose coloured (var. fraxinella) flowers. The plant diffuses a powerful fragrance from its numerous oil-glands when in flower, and during dry hot weather exhales such a quantity of volatile oil, that it is said that a slight flash has been obtained by its sudden combustion when a candle is brought near it on a warm summer evening. The root is thick, white, and very bitter, and was formerly in medicinal repute.—Dittany of Crete, used as a febrifuge, is a very different plant (Origanum Dictamnus), a kind of Marjoram (q.v.).