Mignonette

Mignonette (Reseda odorata), a plant of the natural order Resedaceæ, a native of the north of Africa, in universal cultivation on account of the delicious fragrance of its flowers. Though usually cultivated as an annual, it is really a perennial, and assumes a sub-shrubby character when protected from cold and wet in winter. It is to be seen during summer in almost every garden, and during winter in almost every greenhouse in Britain; it is often cultivated in flower-pots in apartments, and no flower is so common in the boxes which are placed outside of windows in towns. Yet it was first introduced into England by Lord Bateman, who brought it from the Royal Garden at Paris in 1752; nor had it then been long known in France. It rapidly became a universal favourite throughout Europe. The French name mignonette, now its popular name everywhere, signifies Little Darling. What is called Tree Mignonette is not even a distinct variety, but merely the common kind trained in an erect form, and prevented from early flowering by pinching off the ends of the shoots.—Weld (q.v.) belongs to the same genus.