What is this herb/plant?

[Lemond1fficult]

In the herb garden of a house I recently stayed in in Spain was this plant. It smelled sweet and quite citrussy, with lots of hard green, crossed berries.

It definitely smelled edible, but I had no idea what it could be.

Any ideas? Thanks!

Ps. The black hand was my friend barbecuing - I couldn't resist the contrast.

[stayathomegardener]

It is Rue.
Beautiful plant but causes allergic reactions that look like burns and can last for weeks.
Latin is Ruta graveolens if you need to look it up.

[Lemond1fficult]

Ahhh! Yep! That's the badger.

I wonder why it's been included in the kitchen herb garden if it can cause burns? It smells amazing. If it's not poisonous to my cat I may try and buy one.

Thanks so much.

[stayathomegardener]

Had to google that as wondered if it was just me and was intrigued.
Rue leaves contain a volatile oil (that amazing scent) which contains anti fungal and anti bacterial properties.
It also causes photosensitivity.

So I think the combination of rubbing the leaves to release that amazing scent and sunshine will produce the blisters and burns but on a cloudy day one may not react.

[Lemond1fficult]

That makes sense. I was really crushing the leaves to get at the scent but it was overcast.

Now I come to think of it, my friend had a couple of blisters we assumed were mosquito bites, but may have come from contact.