Synonyms: | |
Common names: | Field madder (English) |
Frequency: | Rare |
Status: | Introduced |
Description: |
Annual herb. Stems prostrate or decumbent, to 40 cm, ± glabrous with 4 rough angles. Lower leaves in whorls of 4, obovate-cuspidate; upper 5-18 mm, elliptic, acute; margin with forwardly directed prickles. Flowers 3 mm in diameter. Involucre of 8-10 lanceolate leaf-like bracts longer than the flowers. Sepals 4-6 mm, enlarging in fruit. Corolla 4-5 mm, pale lilac; tube c. twice as long as the 4 lobes. Fruit 4 mm, crowned by the calyx, of 2 obovoid mericarps with short rough bristles. |
Type location: |
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Notes: | A rare introduction, recorded only once as a weed of cultivation. |
Derivation of specific name: | arvensis: of cultivated fields |
Habitat: | Cultivated areas and disturbed ground |
Altitude range: (metres) | 1310 m |
Flowering time: | |
Worldwide distribution: | Probably native to Europe, Mediterranean region and W Asia; widely escaped worldwide |
FZ divisions: | N |
Growth form(s): | Annual. |
Endemic status: | |
Red data list status: | |
Insects associated with this species: | |
Spot characters: | Display spot characters for this species |
Images last updated: | Tuesday 12 June 2007 |
Literature: |
Mapaura, A. & Timberlake, J. (eds) (2004). A checklist of Zimbabwean vascular plants Southern African Botanical Diversity Network Report No. 33 Sabonet, Pretoria and Harare Page 74. |