Reseda minoica Martín-Bravo & Jim. Mejías (Resedaceae), a new species from the eastern Mediterranean region, is described and illustrated. It is distributed in Crete (Gavdos Island), Cyprus and S Anatolia (Mersin), where it grows mostly on basic, occasionally schistose, substrates near the coast. It is included in Reseda sect. Phyteuma, a taxonomically complex group mostly containing narrow endemics from the western or eastern Mediterranean region. Reseda minoica has been confused with R. odorata, R. orientalis and R. balansae in Crete, Cyprus and Turkey. It can be distinguished from those by the lower number of stamens, seed size, colour of petals and indumentum. An identification key to the eastern Mediterranean taxa of Reseda sect. Phyteuma is provided.