Ah, Rosmarinus, the beautiful “dew of the sea,” a fragrant, oceanside, evergreen Mediterranean member of the mint family, whose aromatic pine-needle like branches were said to adorn the goddess Aphrodite as she emerged from the sea. Also associated with the Virgin Mary, rosemary’s affinity with the feminine is again seen in the medieval belief that rosemary growing in dooryards signified that a woman ruled the roost in that household.