Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Gentianales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Galium sherardia
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Check out EDDMapS.org to see where this has been reported.
Read more about Field Madder at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sherardia arvensis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-09-001:
Sherardia arvensis FAMILY Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sherardia arvensis
COMMON NAME:
Field Madder, Blue Field-madder
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_shar2_001_lvd
)
Gill Newberry gn04_sherardia_flowers2
April
)
Gill Newberry gn04_sherardia_lvs
April
)
JK Marlow jkm170410_365
April Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm170410_367b
April Greenville County SC
Inflorescence involucrate, flowers more tubular & pink-purple vs. other Galium, per Weakley's Flora.
)
JK Marlow jkm210422_9614
April Greenville County SC
)
JK Marlow jkm210422_9617
April Greenville County SC
Stem 4-angled. Lvs in whorls of 4-6 w a sharp point & finely toothed margins, per Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4911_86
April Spartanburg County SC
Tiny flowers occur in heads surrounded by a whorl of involucral leaves, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Roxanna Martin rlm4911_92
April Spartanburg County SC
Corolla tube about 0.12" long, 3x longer than the spreading lobes, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Stephanie C. Brundage scb_042416hayesville_01
April Clay County NC
Roadside
)
JK Marlow jkm0506e_35
June Greenville County SC
The clover leaf provides scale.
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Galium sherardia
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Sherardia arvensis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 173-09-001:
Sherardia arvensis
FAMILY
Rubiaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Sherardia arvensis
1374
Forb
Winter annual
Habitat: Lawns, roadsides, other disturbed areas, per Weakley's Flora
Non-native: Europe
Common (uncommon in Coastal Plain)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple
Whorls of 4-6
Margins entire
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Lavender/Pinkish
Radially symmetrical
4-lobed funnelform corolla
Bisexual
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p356
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p099
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p318
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p265
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p308
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p165
- Weeds of Southern Turfgrasses (Murphy et al., 1992) p182
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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