Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Sherardia

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Kingdom
  
Plantae

Clade
  
Eudicots

Order
  
Gentianales

Scientific name
  
Sherardia arvensis

Rank
  
Species

Clade
  
Angiosperms

Clade
  
Asterids

Family
  
Rubiaceae

Higher classification
  
Sherardia

Sherardia Flora Vascular Toda la informacin detallada sobre la Flora

Similar
  
Rubiaceae, Asperula, Crucianella, Cruciata, Galium

Sherardia is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. The genus contains only one species, viz. Sherardia arvensis or (blue) field madder, which is widespread across most of Europe and northern Africa as well as southwest and central Asia (from Turkey to Saudi Arabia to Kazakhstan) and Macaronesia (Canary Islands, Azores, Madeira, Savage Islands). 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 (especially the Pacific States and the lower Mississippi Valley).

Contents

Sherardia Sherardia arvensis L

Description

Sherardia httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

Sherardia arvensis is an annual plant with trailing and upright stems growing up to 40 cm long, having a square cross-section. The rough pointed bristly leaves of about 1 cm in length are in whorls of four to six (normally six at the ends of the shoots, but four nearer the root).

Sherardia Sherardia arvensis Blue fieldmadder

The tiny pale lilac or pink flowers are approximately 3 mm in diameter and have a long tube, with only the end part of the four petals free. The flowers grow in clusters of two or three together in an involucral structure formed out of a ring of six bracts.

The fruit are dry and about 3 mm long with two lobes giving rise to the two seeds (nutlets).

Sherardia Sherardia arvensis Field Madder Discover Life

The four-angled stems with whorls of bristly leaves and tiny flowers are reminiscent of the Bedstraws and other related Rubiaceae, but Sherardia is distinguished by its mauve/pink flowers that are organized in clusters and having a long corolla tube.

Uses

Sherardia arvensis

Sherardia arvensis is a common weed of fields, pasture, grassland, and disturbed areas. The fleshy roots, though much inferior to the common madder (Rubia tinctorum), are sometimes used for the production of a red dye.

Taxonomy

Sherardia FileSherardia arvensis Wjpg Wikimedia Commons

The genus and species were described by Carl Linnaeus in Hortus Cliffortianus in 1736 and also appeared in his masterwork Species Plantarum in 1753. The genus was named in memory of the prominent English botanist William Sherard (1659–1728). The Latin epithet arvensis means that it is found in fields.

References

Sherardia Wikipedia