# Field madder

*Sherardia arvensis*

Though much smaller than its famous relative, Common Madder, its roots can still be used to produce a delicate pink dye.

- **Taxonomy:** Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Gentianales › Rubiaceae › Sherardia
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** stable
- **Biome:** grassland
- **Habitat:** Disturbed soils, cultivated fields, pastures, lawns, and grassy roadsides.
- **Diet:** Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- **Range:** Europe, North Africa, Western Asia, North America, Australia
- **Size:** Stems 5 to 40 cm long; flowers 2 to 3 mm in diameter.
- **Lifespan:** Annual (less than 1 year)
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Widespread herbicide use, intensive agricultural tilling, and loss of open meadow habitats to development.
- **Safe to approach?:** This species is completely harmless. You can safely observe, touch, and photograph it up close. No precautions are necessary, though avoiding stepping on dense patches helps preserve the local micro-habitats.

## About

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...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/3acee423-db14-4f73-97ea-48a3fa854fb1
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/47691
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherardia arvensis
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/426141892/medium.jpg (Gilles San Martin, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.