Family: Rubiaceae Field Madder Sherardia arvensis Flowering time: May - September. Annual Found among short, dry, open grassland and on cliffs, dunes, waste ground and arable land. Usually on neutral or basic soils. A small, +/- prostrate, +/- bristly plant with terminal clusters of small pinkish-mauve, 4-petalled flowers with leaf-like bracts. The round, bristly fruit are surrounded by sepal teeth. Whorls of 6 pointed, unstalked leaves. Similar: Wild Madder, Rubia peregrina. A vigorous, scrambling plant with coarser leaves and 5-petalled creamy flowers.

   


Field Madder, Sherardia arvensis
Studland, Dorset. August 2007