RUBIA PEREGRINA

Family and Genus:- See- RUBIACEAE

Common Names:- Wild madder

Homotypic Synonyms:- None

Meaning:- Rubia (L) Red, a name used by the Roman naturalist and philosopher

Pliny for madder.

Peregrina (L) Strange, foreign, exotic.

General description:- Evergreen, trailing and climbing perennial herb, woody

below.

Stem:-

1) Up to 2 m tall, narrowly 4-winged, retrorsely aculeolate on the wings.

Leaves:-

1) In whorls of 4-6, coriaceous, 20-50 x 7-18 mm narrowly elliptical to obovate,

shortly acuminate. retrorsely aculeolate on the margins.

Flowers:-

1) Partial inflorescence, terminal and axillary, lax, exceeding the leaves.

2) Corolla, 4-5 mm diam., rotate, pale greenish-yellow;

a) lobes, lanceolate, aristate.

3) Anthers, minute (0.2-0.3 mm), subglobose.

Fruit:-

1) Mericarps, 4-6 mm in diam. subglobose, finally black and fleshy.

Key features:-

1) Woody below, herbaceous above.

2) Leaves, retrorsely aculeolate on the margins.

3) Partial inflorescence, terminal and axillary, lax.

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Habitat:- Somewhat damp, rocky slopes and gorges with dry open shrubby

vegetation, scrubland vegetation and open coniferous woodland. 0-800(-1100) m.

Distribution:- Coastal areas throughout Greece, rare or lacking in the interior north.

- S & W Europe (northwards to Ireland), N Africa, eastwards to NW Anatolia. Fairly

well scattered across Crete, but absent from the central southern region.

Flowering time:- (Mar-)Apr-July.

Photos by:- Courtesy of Wiki-Commons