| Rubia peregrina | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Flowers of Rubia peregrina | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Gentianales |
| Family: | Rubiaceae |
| Genus: | Rubia |
| Species: | R. peregrina |
| Binomial name | |
| Rubia peregrina | |
Rubia peregrina, the common wild madder, [1] is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae.
The genus name Rubia derives from the Latin ruber meaning "red", as the roots of some species (mainly Rubia tinctorum ) have been used since ancient times as a vegetable red dye. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective peregrinus, -a, -um meaning "foreign, alien, exotic, strange."
The stem is woody, hairless, square and climbing and reaches on average 50–250 centimetres (20–98 in) long. [2] The evergreen leaves are sessile, glossy, leathery, oval-lanceolate and toothed on the margins. They are arranged in whorls, usually with five or more leaves radiating from a single node. The small flowers have five petals and are pale green-yellowish, about 5–7 mm in diameter, [2] arranged at the top of long stalks. The flowering period extends from April through June. [2] The hermaphroditic flowers are pollinated by insects (entomogamy). The fruits are fleshy green berries, black when ripe, about 5 mm (0.20 in) in diameter. [2]
It is mainly present in Mediterranean Europe (Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Greece and former Yugoslavia), in Great Britain and in North Africa. [2]
This stress resistant weed is typical of Mediterranean scrub. It grows in thickets, bushes, hedges, stony grounds and along the roads and paths. It prefers dry soils, at an altitude of 0–1,000 metres (0–3,281 ft) above sea level. [2]
Vicia sativa, known as the common vetch, garden vetch, tare or simply vetch, is a nitrogen-fixing leguminous plant in the family Fabaceae. It is likely native to North Africa, Western Asia and Europe, but is now naturalized in temperate and subtropical regions worldwide. Although considered a weed when found growing in a cultivated grainfield, this hardy plant is often grown as a green manure, livestock fodder or rotation crop. More than 500,000 hectares per year of Vicia sativa is grown in Australia.
Lantana is a genus of about 150 species of perennial flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are native to tropical regions of the Americas and Africa but exist as an introduced species in numerous areas, especially in the Australian-Pacific region, South and Northeastern part of India. The genus includes both herbaceous plants and shrubs growing to 0.5–2 m (1.6–6.6 ft) tall. Their common names are shrub verbenas or lantanas. The generic name originated in Late Latin, where it refers to the unrelated Viburnum lantana.
Genista is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae, native to open habitats such as moorland and pasture in Europe and western Asia. They include species commonly called broom, though the term may also refer to other genera, including Cytisus and Chamaecytisus. Brooms in other genera are sometimes considered synonymous with Genista: Echinospartum, Retama, Spartium, Stauracanthus, and Ulex.
Cassia is a genus of flowering plants in the legume family, Fabaceae, and the subfamily Caesalpinioideae. Species are known commonly as cassias. Cassia is also the English common name of some species in the genus Cinnamomum of the family Lauraceae. Species of the genera Senna and Chamaecrista were previously included in Cassia. Cassia now generally includes the largest species of the legume subtribe Cassiinae, usually mid-sized trees.
Linaria is a genus of almost 200 species of flowering plants, one of several related groups commonly called toadflax. They are annuals and herbaceous perennials, and the largest genus in the Antirrhineae tribe of the plantain family Plantaginaceae.
Sherardia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. The genus contains only one species, Sherardia arvensis, the (blue) field madder, which is widespread across most of Europe and northern Africa as well as southwest and central Asia and Macaronesia. It is also reportedly naturalized in Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Kerguelen, Ethiopia, Sudan, southern Africa, Mexico, Costa Rica, South America, Bermuda, Cuba, Haiti and much of Canada and the United States.
Coprosma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae. It is found in New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Borneo, Java, New Guinea, islands of the Pacific Ocean to Australia and the Juan Fernández Islands.
Indigofera is a large genus of over 750 species of flowering plants belonging to the pea family Fabaceae. They are widely distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world.
Persoonia, commonly known as geebungs or snottygobbles, is a genus of about one hundred species of flowering plants in the family Proteaceae. Plants in the genus Persoonia are shrubs or small trees usually with smooth bark, simple leaves and usually yellow flowers arranged along a raceme, each flower with a leaf or scale leaf at the base. The fruit is a drupe.
Anthyllis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. This genus contains both herbaceous and shrubby species and is distributed in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The most widespread and familiar species is A. vulneraria, a familiar grassland flower which has also been introduced to New Zealand.
Paeonia officinalis, the common peony, or garden peony, is a species of flowering plant in the family Paeoniaceae, native to mainly mountainous areas of Southern Europe and introduced in Central and Western Europe and North America.
Rubia tinctorum, the rose madder or common madder or dyer's madder, is a herbaceous perennial plant species belonging to the bedstraw and coffee family Rubiaceae.
Asperula tinctoria, common name dyer's woodruff, is a plant in the family Rubiaceae, a native of much of northern and central Europe from France to Russia and also of Western Siberia.
The flora of Lebanon includes approximately 2,600 plant species. Situated on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Basin, Lebanon is a reservoir of plant diversity and one of the world's biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Endemic species constitute 12% of the Lebanese flora; 221 plant species are broad endemics and 90 are narrow endemics. Important Plant Areas (IPAs) featuring the country exceptional botanical richness were defined in 2018.
