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Rubia peregrina

Common name:	Wild Madder	Family:	Rubiaceae
Author:	L.	Botanical references:	17, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	Western and southern Europe, including Britain, to N. Africa.
Habitat:	Hedges, thickets, scrub and stony ground in the south and south-west of Britain[17].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	1

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bataprine hispidula[B,P] Galium carolinianum[B,P] Galium hispidulm[] Galium hispidulum[B,P] Galium hispidum[B,P] Galium peregrina[B,P] R. brownei[B,P] R. walteri[B,P] Valantia hypocarpia[B,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Coastal Bedstraw [B,P], Levant Madder [E], Wild Madder [H],
Epithets:	From a Dictionary of Botanical Epithets
	peregrina = foreign;
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Rubiales. Madder family
Other Range Info:	From the Ethnobotany Database
	Mediterranean; Morocco

Physical Characteristics

An evergreen perennial growing to 0.1m. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 1/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy) and medium (loamy) soils. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires dry or moist soil. The plant can tolerate maritime exposure.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Hedgerow, Woodland, Sunny Edge, Dappled Shade.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

Abortifacient; Aphrodisiac; Diuretic; Emmenagogue.

Abortifacient, aphrodisiac, diuretic, emmenagogue[46, 61].

Other Uses

Dye.

A red dye is obtained from the roots[4].

Cultivation details

Prefers a loose moist leafy soil in some shade[200]. Tolerates dry soils but quickly becomes scorched when growing in full sun[200]. Plants grown in fertile well-limed soils produce more pigment in the root[169].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a cold frame. Stored seed can be very slow to germinate[200]. Prick out the seedlings when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in light shade in the greenhouse for the first year. Plant them out into their permanent positions in early summer.
Division in spring or at any time in the growing season if the divisions are kept well watered until established[200]. Larger divisions can be planted out direct into their permanent positions. We have found it best to pot up the smaller divisions and grow them on in a lightly shaded position in a cold frame, planting them out once they are well established in the summer.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

Details of Medicinal Uses, Habitats, etc. in M. Grieve A Modern Herbal (1931) [4]
[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[E] Ethnobotany Data (common names, uses, countries) from the Ethnobotany Database.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Galium hispidulum (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Rubiaceae.

To be included in the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[4] Grieve. A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9
Not so modern (1930's?) but lots of information, mainly temperate plants.

[17] Clapham, Tootin and Warburg. Flora of the British Isles. Cambridge University Press 1962
A very comprehensive flora, the standard reference book but it has no pictures.

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[169] Buchanan. R. A Weavers Garden.
Covers all aspects of growing your own clothes, from fibre plants to dyes.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Rubia+peregrina
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Rubia+peregrina

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.