Photos: Co.Cork and Co.Waterford

Field Madder Sherardia arvensis Dearg faille Family: Rubiaceae Flowering time: May-September. Annual. Native. Terminal clusters of small pink or mauve 4-petalled flowers with leaf-like bracts. Round, bristly fruit surrounded by sepal teeth. Unstalked leaves are lanceolate, pointed, in whorls of 6. More/less bristly plant. Branched, usually prostrate. Height/spread: 10-30cm. Dry, open grassland, cliffs, dunes, waste ground, arable land. Decreasing. Most frequent in S and E Ireland.

     



Field Madder. Ardmore Co.Waterford and Inchigeela, Co.Cork. 2008